Panama City, May 6 (RHC)-- The Electoral Court of Panama called José Mulino (substitute for Ricardo Martinelli) on Sunday night to tell him that, according to the quick count (preliminary results) of the presidential elections, he would be the new elected president of that Central American nation.

The president of the Electoral Tribunal, Alfredo Juncá, came out at around 8:45 p.m. local time (01:45 a.m. UTC on Monday) to declare that, in a preliminary and still unofficial manner (only the Scrutiny Board can do so), the candidate Mulino had a tendency that already It was irreversible with 85 percent of the tables counted and it accumulated 34 percent of the votes.

He then made a video call to Mulino who recognized the work of the court and proclaimed himself the winner, while he promised to form "a government of national unity" in the midst of the current circumstances.

From 4:30 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. UTC) the transmission of data to the Electoral Tribunal began and at around 7:00 p.m. local time (24:00 p.m. UTC) the number of tables that have already sent the result exceeds 81 percent.  The first candidate to acknowledge his defeat was the ruling party's José Gabriel Carrizo, who said that the president-elect, whoever it may be, has "the great responsibility and challenge of uniting all Panamanians."

Likewise, the former president and repeat candidate, Martin Torrijos, came out to acknowledge his defeat and congratulated the person who until that moment was leading the quick count, José Mulino. Shortly after, the candidate Rómulo Roux also came out to recognize Maulino's defeat and triumph.

Finally, the candidate Ricardo Lombana addressed his followers from his campaign command to proclaim that, from that moment on, he would become the main force of the opposition and the second political force in the country. With this, he recognized, de facto, Mulino's victory.

The electoral centers enabled by the Electoral Tribunal of Panama were open from 7:00 a.m. local (12:00 UTC). It is expected that in the next few hours, the president of the Electoral Tribunal, Alfredo Juncá, will address the nation with information on the official results.

The electoral magistrate assured this morning, at the time of the opening, that the Court "offers certainty, confidence and certainty," and ratified that the country can have "the certainty that the votes will be well scrutinized by the citizens of society." civilians who will be at the voting stations".

The first step after the closing of the polls was the burning of the excess ballots, an action that was carried out outside each of the polling stations.

In his first speech to his supporters as the virtual president-elect of the country, Mulino expressed that in his government "political persecution is over, manipulation of the Public Ministry is over, manipulation of judges and magistrates is over."

"A embrace for Ricardo (Martinelli) to where you are.  As I said, political persecution is over in this country, the country is tired of political fights that have not led us to anything good.  I do not consider myself an enemy of anyone, and I hope that no one considers me their enemy," he said.

Martinelli was RM's presidential candidate and Mulino was his running mate, but he was disqualified after a sentence of 10 years and eight months in prison for corruption. The former Panamanian president (2009-2014) took refuge last February in the Nicaraguan embassy in the country's capital, where he is now.

Mulino, likewise, declared that he is not encouraged by "confrontations of any kind," and that in his administration he will seek political consensus and promote "a pro-private business government," but without forgetting to address the needs of the low-income population.