June 29, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Panama are unhappy with the performance of Martín Torrijos, according to a poll by Unimer published in La Prensa. 61 per cent of respondents think the president has done a bad or very bad job leading the country.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Panama are unhappy with the performance of Martín Torrijos, according to a poll by Unimer published in La Prensa. 61 per cent of respondents think the president has done a bad or very bad job leading the country.

Torrijos—the son of Omar Torrijos, an army general who ruled Panama from 1968 to 1981—won the May 2004 presidential election as a candidate for the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) with 47.44 per cent of the vote.

In 1999, Panama regained full control of the Panama Canal, the source of 10 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In October 2006, Panamanian voters supported the canal’s $5.25 billion U.S. expansion plan—which would add a parallel set of locks to allow giant cargo ships to pass through the waterway—in a nationwide referendum.

On Jun. 20, Torrijos announced that the government will spend close to $40 million U.S. in energy subsidies in order to stem rising inflation mainly caused by the price of fuel. The president said the program will be in effect for the next six months, and concluded: "We cannot predict how much more oil prices will increase."

Polling Data

How would you rate the performance of Martín Torrijos as president?

Excellent / Good	34%
Bad / Very Bad	61%
Not sure	5%

Source: Unimer / La Prensa
Methodology: Interviews with 1,204 Panamanian adults, conducted from Jun. 14 to Jun. 18, 2008. Margin of error is 2.9 per cent.