Electoral Tribunal of Panama launched General Elections Plan for 2024 with technical assistance of International IDEA
The Electoral Tribunal of Panama (ET) launched on 23 March 2022, the General Elections Plan (PLAGEL), by its acronym in Spanish, where International IDEA will provide international technical assistance.
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In coordination with the ET, International IDEA will provide advice on the design, execution, articulation and corrective evaluation of the specific actions to be carried out, fundamentally through the participation of international experts, the provision of teaching materials and the holding of work meetings and training.
Through this technical cooperation, International IDEA will provide content and methodologies derived from good international practices and the implementation of institutional strategies for collaboration in the fields of strategic communication, promotion of civic electoral culture, gender and inclusion and electoral career.
The PLAGEL was launched with the swearing-in of the 33 work commissions responsible for planning, developing and executing the elections on 5 May 2024, in accordance with the principles of freedom, equity, transparency and respect for the rights of citizens to elect and be elected.
During the installation session, the ET was represented by its three Magistrates, the Presiding Magistrate Heriberto Arauz, the first Magistrate Vicepresident Eduardo Valdés Escoferry, the Second Magistrate Vicepresident Alfredo Juncá; and the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of International IDEA, Daniel Zovatto.
The first Magistrate Vicepresident, Eduardo Valdés Escoffery, director of PLAGEL, to swear in the work team, which also includes 6 subcommissions and 16 regional directorates from all over the country. This important event was held in the institution's Auditorium with the assistance of special guests and figures linked to the electoral events.
The PLAGEL begins two years before the general elections date to comply with all the stages of the process and is a working system that the TE has used in the last seven general elections that have been held in the country, including the referendum on the expansion of the Panama Canal.
During the 2019 PLAGEL, 26 commissions were installed, with an electoral roll of 2,757,823 citizens. The general elections were held with a participation rate of 73.1 per cent.
