Panama elections: down to two

Arias or Navarro.

Democratic Change (CD - Cambio Democrático) or Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD - Partido Revolucionario Democrático).

The 2014 presidential election, to be held next May, is a tight race between these two leaders and their parties, according to the latest Datexco poll, published this month.

Domingo Arias of the incumbent CD leads with 29%, while Juan Carlos Navarro of the PRD is a close second at 28%.

Arias is seen as the person most likely to help Panama’s economy grow, in part because of the popularity of the current CD administration of President Ricardo Martinelli, during which the economy has shown strong, steady growth.

Martinelli has a 50% approval rating, according to the Datexco survey.

The race for the presidency and for seats in the National Assembly is likely to stay close, since only 12% of voters are undecided.