Panama's leading presidential candidate is a late entry promising a return to better times

PANAMA CITY (AP) — The leading candidate to be Panama’s next president is a last-minute stand-in who promises to return the Central American country to a boom time that experts say will be difficult to recapture.

José Raúl Mulino, a maritime lawyer and former security minister, was thrust to the top of the presidential ticket after Panama’s electoral authorities ruled former President Ricardo Martinelli ineligible following his money laundering conviction and sentencing.

Lacking Martinelli’s charisma and popular appeal, but benefitting from the supermarket magnate’s vociferous support, Mulino has maintained a healthy lead in the field crowded with eight candidates ahead of the May 5 election.

The remaining field features a couple of also-rans from previous elections — Ricardo Lombana and Rómulo Roux — as well as former President Martín Torrijos. Those three are in a virtual tie for second behind Mulino, according to recent polls. Mulino skipped all three presidential debates.

Mulino has campaigned with promises to create jobs and stop migration through Panama’s Darien jungle, where more than a half million people trekked last year. The message has resonated with an electorate tired of the country’s political establishment, but nostalgic for the days of a humming economy.

Panama, however, is not growing like it was during Martinelli’s 2009-2014 presidency, and experts expect the economy to slow next year.

A factor in the economic deceleration is the Supreme Court’s decision to declare as unconstitutional legislation that granted a 20-year concession to a huge copper mine. The decision came after weeks of street protests by a wide slice of Panamanian society roiled by concerns over water access — amid a troubling drought — and nationalist fervor about the deal with a...