At stake in this election:

• 71 seats in the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Martin TORRIJOS Espino *
• Head of Government: President Martin TORRIJOS Espino
• Assembly: Panama has a unicameral National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) with 78 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by simple majority vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional), 45 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 26 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Seat allocation in the MMDs is in three stages. First, the total valid poll in any district is divided by the number of seats in that district. The result is the "electoral quotient." The number of votes for each party is divided by the electoral quotient, and the result is the number of seats in the district to which each party is entitled. Second, any remaining seats in the district are allocated to parties that have received at least one half an electoral quotient, but not a full electoral quotient, in descending order from largest to smallest vote share. Third, any remaining seats in the district are allocated to individual candidates in descending order from largest to smallest personal vote share.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Revolutionary Democratic Party / Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD)
  • Leader: Martín TORRIJOS Espino
  • Seats won in last election: 40
• Party: Panameñista Party (PA) / Partido Panameñista
  • Leader: Juan Carlos VARELA
  • Seats won in last election: 17
• Party: Liberal Republican National Movement / Movimiento Liberal Republicano Nacionalista (MOLIRENA)
  • Leader: Sergio GONZALEZ-Ruiz
  • Seats won in last election: 3
• Party: Democratic Change (CD) / Cambio Democrático
  • Leader: Ricardo MARTINELLI
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Party: Popular Party (PP) / Partido Popular*****
  • Leader: Rene ORILLAC
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Party: Patriotic Union Party / Partido Unión Patriotic******
  • Leader: Guillermo FORD Anibal GALINDO
  • Seats won in last election: 0

***** The Popular Party was originally the Christian Democratic Party (PDC).
****** The Solidarity Party and the National Liberal Party merged after the 2004 elections to form the Patriotic Union Party.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 3,559,401 (2009)
• Registered Voters: 2,211,261 (May 2009)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 1,770,832 (2009)

·         Is Panama a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (26 June 1980)

·         Has Panama ratified CEDAW: Yes (29 October 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 6 (following the 2009 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 60 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Panama a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Panama ratified CRPD: Yes (7 August 2007)

·         Population with a disability: 533,910 (est.)