Chamber:
	Asamblea Legislativa
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	8 May 1994
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The 1994 legislative elections were held simultaneously with those for President of the Republic, municipal and local representatives. Of the seven candidates aiming to succeed to Mr. Guillermo Endara (ineligible for re-election) for the presidency were Mr. Ernesto Pérez Balladares of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Mrs. Mireya Moscosco de Gruber of the ruling Arnulfista Party (PA), Mr. Ruben Blades of the centre-left Movimiento Papa Egoro (Mother Earth), and Mr. Ruben Dario Carles of the conservative Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement (MOLIRENA). Although belonging to the same party as General Manuel Antonio Noriega, the former dictator who was ousted in 1989 by USA military invasion, Mr. Balladares identified himself closely with the late General Omar Torrijos Herrera, the PRD’s founder and a national hero who effectively ruled Panama from 1972 to 1981. He promised a growing economy with more jobs, an attack on poverty and corruption, and higher social spending, while ruling out a return to power of the military. The other candidates likewise focused on economic issues and vowed a smooth transfer of the Panama Canal and USA military bases to Panamanian sovereignty, a process due to be completed by the year 2000. Polling day was monitored by international observers, including ex-USA President Jimmy Carter, who judged the voting free and fair, in marked contrast to the controversial elections five years earlier. Final results gave a narrow presidential victory to Mr. Balladares over Mrs. Moscosco de Gruber, the widow of former President Arnulfo Arias de la Madrid, and Mr. Blades, a popular singer from whom more had been expected. The left-leaning PRD also topped the right-wing PA in Legislative Assembly seats, although it fell short of an absolute majority. Analysts regarded Mr. Balladares’ presidential triumph as less of an endorsement of his programme than a rejection of the record of outgoing President Endara, whose coalition administration lacked strength and integrity while failing to curb drug trafficking, money laundering and crime. The outcome also signalled the revitalisation of the PRD as a political force. On 17 May, President-elect Balladares announced the formation of an 11-member Government of “national reconciliation”. He took office on 1 September.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (8 May 1994): Elections results
Number of registered electors	1,500,000 (approx.)
Voters	73.67% (approx.)

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)	32
Arnulfista Party (PA)	14
Movimiento Papa Egoro	6
Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement (MOLIRENA)	5
Others	14

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	65
Women:	6