While president-elect Ricardo Martinelli will take office backed by a substantial majority in the National Assembly, his counterpart in Panama City, Bosco Vallarino, will face a much harder task.
Vallarino, the mayor-elect of Panama City, will have just eight supporters on his side of the chamber, as the Cambio Democrático captured six seats on the Municipal Council and the Partido Panameñista has two.
The 13 others are controlled by the Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD), which saw its share drop from the 18 seats it held after the 2004 election. This majority made it easy for Vallarino's predecessor, Juan Carlos Navarro, to advance his agenda with little opposition.
Vallarino, however, will have to win the support of at least a few PRD members to pass his proposals, and many more to get major initiatives approved.
According to the Municipal Council regulations, matters related to the budget and other matters of importance requires two-thirds approval, or 14 votes. In some cases, a measure needs 15 votes to pass.
This means that Vallarino would need three PRD votes for many proposals, but as many as seven of their votes for issues such as the annual budget.
Vallarino said he is confident that he will be able to work with the PRD to pass his spending measures, and that they will not block smart and creative proposals for solving the problems of the district simply for political reasons.
“They have campaign promises to fulfill, and they will need support from the mayor,” he said. “And I'm not going to deny such support.”
PRD Councilman Javier Ortega said that if the new mayor wants to work for the good of the city, they will work with him. But he warned that if the mayor comes with an agenda of revenge and persecution, he will find little support.
“What is needed now is dialogue and openness,” Ortega said.
