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PRELIMINARY REPORT PRESENTED ON OAS OBSERVATION OF REFERENDUM IN PANAMA

The Organization of American States (OAS) considers that the referendum held in Panama last Sunday, on the proposed expansion of the Panama Canal, “was carried out in accordance with international norms and standards that ensure free, fair and credible elections,” said OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin, who headed the OAS Electoral Observation Mission that monitored the referendum.

In a preliminary verbal report to the OAS Permanent Council today, Ambassador Ramdin underscored the “peaceful and orderly participation of the people of Panama in this process” and noted that the October 22 referendum had proceeded “without any significant incidents or system-wide shortcomings that could jeopardize the transparency and outcome of the election.”

According to preliminary results, the proposal to build a third set of locks for the Panama Canal was approved by 77.8% of the citizens who participated in the referendum, while 22.2% voted against the proposed expansion.

After hearing Ambassador Ramdin’s report, the Permanent Council adopted, by acclamation, a declaration congratulating “the people of Panama, its government, and its democratic political institutions, on the civic behavior they demonstrated during the national referendum.” During the session, chaired by Ambassador Marina Valere of Trinidad and Tobago, diplomats from around the region took the floor to recognize the Panamanian people for the decision they had taken and to emphasize the importance of the inter-oceanic waterway not only for Panama, but also for the Americas and for the world.

For his part, the Permanent Representative of Panama to the OAS, Ambassador Aristides Royo, told the member states that the expansion project—which the government estimates will cost $5.25 billion—will increase the capacity of the Panama Canal to handle a greater number of ships and larger vessels. Noting that his country’s Constitution requires that any proposed expansion be submitted to a popular vote, Royo explained that “all Panamanians feel that we are stakeholders in the Canal.”

In his report, Ramdin—who was appointed Chief of Mission by Secretary General José Miguel Insulza—explained that the OAS Electoral Observation Mission had met in the days leading up to the referendum with groups in favor of and opposed to the proposed expansion, as well as with government representatives, electoral authorities, national observers, the Director of the Panama Canal Authority, members of the diplomatic community and the press. Proponents of the proposal considered that the project would have a positive impact on national development; opponents, for their part, expressed concerns about possible economic and environmental impacts, Ramdin said.

The Assistant Secretary General reported that on the day of the referendum, delegates of the group voting “No” presented the OAS Mission with a document alleging that members of the “Yes” group had distributed propaganda in the vicinity of some polling stations. The OAS Mission forwarded the complaint to the competent Panamanian authority, the Fiscal Electoral, and asked for information on the procedures that would be taken on the matter, Ramdin said. The Chief of the OAS Mission noted that “the lack of specificity of the applicable legislation could have led to confusion” on the issue of distribution of propaganda. In the preliminary report, the Mission found that “a more specific legal framework would prevent future incidents on this matter.”

“It is important to note that during our meeting with the ‘Yes’ and the ‘No’ group, all expressed the importance of the Panama Canal and their expectation that the benefits emanating from the expansion of the Canal would benefit all Panamanians,” the Assistant Secretary General said. “Given the importance of this effort,” he added, “in the planning and execution, one of the main challenges ahead will be to take into consideration the concerns expressed by all stakeholders regarding this project.”

The short-term OAS Electoral Observation Mission was sent at the invitation of the Panamanian government and the Electoral Tribunal. Fifty international observers, from 16 countries, were deployed to seven of Panama’s nine provinces and two indigenous regions, focusing their observation efforts primarily on the day of the referendum.

Reference: E-227/06