By Carlos Estrada for http://www.critica.com.pa/archivo/03162008/pol03.html">La Critica - PRD Presidential candidate Balbina Herrera said no one can stop her from her right to aspire to govern the country. Herrera started yesterday a series of consultations with the members of the PRD bases in the area of Rio Hato. "Just as I respected Ernesto Perez Balladares, I am also going to respect Juan Carlos Navarro in the PRD primaries," she said. The President of the PRD said she will be making the necessary consultations with all national sectors, among them professionals, the churches, workers, retailers, young people and civil society in general.
Editor's Comment: Well, so far it's a two horse race between Balbina Herrera and Juan Carlos Navarro for the PRD primary. Anyone else who wants to throw their hat into the ring will be wasting their time and money. There is no one else currently in the PRD who would be dumb enough to stick their hand in between these two. The strategy and three-way alliance formed between Martin Torrijos, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Balbina Herrera worked just fine. Their entire goal was to keep Ernesto Perez Balladares marginalized within the party, and that was successful. Now they will run up to the primary election, and after that we will see who comes out being the PRD nominee for the May 2009 national election.
The Opposition? If the opposition was smart they would do the same thing - hold one big "opposition primary" to sort things out. Who ever gets the most votes runs for President, second - most votes gets First Vice President, third - most votes Second Vice President, and then divide the ministry positions up among the "also ran's." But, they are not going to do that. Like a bunch of dumb friggin' ambitious sheep they are going to divide the vote (again) and they will most likely lose to the PRD (again.) If they were united they could hope for 50% (+1) which is what they will need to win. Divided, any individual candidate will have to draw enough away from all of the other "opposition" guys to hope to beat the PRD. And, that is not likely to happen.
Watch the PRD Primary: Right now it looks like the PRD primary will be deciding the next President of Panama. Both Balbina and Juan Carlos are significantly flawed - Juan Carlos has some really big skeletons in his closet, and Balbina really is not polished enough for the world stage. The economy is strong and the PRD will mostly likely count on at least 45% of the popular vote (if not more.) None of the opposition potential candidates could hope for that, especially if their vote is divided between three or four opposition candidates. So, after the PRD primary it will be an exercise in Mental Masturbation until May 9. One question I have - If Balbina runs in the PRD primary and loses, can she still run for the Mayor of Panama City position in the national election?

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