Millionaire magnate lures poor in Panama election
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Panama could elect a multimillionaire supermarket magnate as president on Sunday, as conservative Ricardo Martinelli's knack for business draws poor voters worried about an economic crisis and high inflation.
Polls have given Martinelli a double-digit lead over the centre-left ruling party candidate Balbina Herrera, bucking a left-wing trend in Latin America, as the government has struggled to rein in crime and high food and fuel prices.
Concern about the flagging economy and high inflation has dominated surveys. One showed Martinelli backed by 53 percent of voters in the lowest income bracket and with a huge 45-point lead over Herrera in poor areas near the capital. Nationwide, an April 23 survey gave Martinelli a 14-point lead.
"Every 15 days I go to the market and food prices are higher. You can't buy meat anymore," said Oreida Sanchez, 36, a teacher, after casting a vote for Martinelli's Democratic Change (CD) party in the run-down neighbourhood of Calidonia.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. (1:00 p.m. British time) and will close at 4 p.m. (10:00 p.m. British time).
Martinelli's promise to use a "strong hand" on crime has also appealed to many in Panama, which sits on the route for trafficking South American cocaine to the U.S. market.
"There is so much crime, I am scared to leave the house," said Ana Martinez, 70, a retired accountant, voting in the middle-class Panama City neighbourhood of Bella Vista.
The ruling Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) has a strong support base and President Martin Torrijos has been popular but Herrera has an anti-U.S. past and old ties to a former military strongman that rankle some voters.
RUN LIKE A BUSINESS
Fuelled by U.S.-Asia trade through its transoceanic canal and robust banking activity, Panama's dollarised economy has led Latin America with growth of near or above 10 percent in recent years. But 2009 growth could slow to 3 percent or less as the global crisis hits credit and shipping.
Demand for luxury apartments in the skyscrapers that dominate Panama City's skyline is dropping. Builders say some new projects are on hold and half-built condos are up for sale.
Both candidates plan to use infrastructure projects to inject some life into the economy and both will push ahead with an ambitious $5.25 billion (3.5 billion pounds) expansion of the canal.
But neither is expected to run up a big budget deficit, which could worry foreign investors drawn for years to the country's booming service and property sectors.
Martinelli, 57, a U.S.-educated and self-made businessman who owns the dominant Super 99 supermarket chain, wants to build ports, highways and a Panama City subway if he wins. He also would impose a flat tax of between 10 percent and 20 percent to appeal to foreign investors keen for a clearer tax code.
Both candidates want to finalise a free trade accord with the United States, which has been held up in the U.S. Congress by concerns about Panamanian labour rights and tax evasion.
Herrera, 54, clashed with Washington when she led protests against former President George H.W. Bush, who visited after a 1989 U.S. invasion to oust General Manuel Noriega, a dictator who went to prison in the United States for drug trafficking and money laundering.
Herrera, a former housing minister, has tried to play down old links to Noriega, who has said he hid in her home from U.S. soldiers during the invasion. Her supporters say that is history.
"People definitely change. Those were different times," said Carmen Ceballos, 35, a lawyer voting for Herrera.
(Editing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Bill Trott)