Democratic Change () is a centre-right political party in Panama.
The party was founded on May 20, 1998, by Ricardo Martinelli, owner of the Super 99 supermarket chain. At the end of 2013 the party listed more than 500,000 members, making it one of Panama's two largest parties with a membership almost equal to that of the Democratic Revolutionary Party.Estadística de personas inscritas en partidos políticos constituidos y en formación con relación al Padrón Electoral hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2013, Tribunal Electoral (pdf)
In the legislative elections of May 3, 2009, the party won 23.4% of the popular vote and 14 out of 78 seats. In the presidential elections of the same year, the party leader, Ricardo Martinelli, was elected President of Panama with 59.97% of the vote.
The party's candidate for the presidential elections of 2014 was José Domingo Arias who led the opinion polls but lost to then vice-president Juan Carlos Varela of the Panameñista Party., La Prensa (Panama City), 12 May 2013
In January 2018, Rómulo Roux was elected as president of the party in place of Martinelli, who was detained in a federal prison in Miami at that time for corruption charges. Martinelli would later leave the party in 2020 after disputes over party leadership.
Platform
The party's populist platform includes the support for a strong welfare state, notably programs like Cien a los Setenta for those older than 70 years old and Beca Universal for schoolchildren, mixed with free-market capitalism (similar to a social market economy). This includes measures to attract tourism and business through tax incentives as well as infrastructure investments, such as the expansion of the Panama Canal, highways and airports.
Election results Presidential elections ElectionCandidateVotesVote %ResultPartyAlliance TotalPartyAlliance Total1999Mireya Moscoso36,068572,7172.8244.80 Elected2004Ricardo Martinelli79,4915.30 Lost2009509,986952,33332.1560.03 Elected2014José Domingo Arias483,309581,82826.0731.38 Lost2019Rómulo Roux564,297609,00328.7231.00 Lost2024138,274258,8186.0811.38 Lost
National Assembly elections Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Government 1999Ricardo Martinelli 66,841 5.44% (#7) New 2004 107,511 7.40% (#5) 1 2009 352,319 23.42% (#2) 11 2014 573,603 33.72% (#1) 16 2019Rómulo Roux 405,798 22.45% (#2) 12 2024 239,529 11.19% (#3) 10
PARLACEN elections The amount of seats allocated for the PARLACEN is based on the vote share obtained by each party in the presidential election. Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– 2019Rómulo Roux 483,309 26.07% (#3) 2024 138,374 6.08% (#4) 7
External links Official website Electoral Court information page
References