Balbina Herrera Elected PRD General Secretary

According to the former head of state, Herrera's victory is also a triumph for Torrijism. Former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares celebrated this Sunday the victory of engineer Balbina Herrera, which in his view gives hope of returning to the right path. Herrera received 188 votes and becomes the first woman to hold the position of party general secretary, a post she already held at the beginning of the century. Just as in the Panameñista Party, Balbina's rival, Pedro Miguel González, was by her side advocating for the unity of Omar Torrijos Herrera's party, the great loser in the last elections, after his candidate, José Gabriel Carrizo, came in sixth place among eight candidates with only 5.8% of the votes. "We will touch the statutes and the country's vision for the future," Herrera said. The new general secretary has promised to rebuild the party. Herrera became the new general secretary of the PRD this Sunday, after receiving the support of over 60% of the Extraordinary National Directorate, which met to elect half of the positions of the National Executive Committee (CEN). "Congratulations to Torrijism," he stated. José Luis Fábrega, a former mayor, was elected first vice president with 161 votes. The second vice presidency went to the mayor of Boquerón, Jesenka Espinosa Ríos, whose candidacy was unsuccessfully challenged by her rival, the alternate deputy Emelie García. Buchanan obtained the highest percentage (83%) of the positions that were put to a vote. "She is a proven Torrijist and loyal to our principles, who has never sold out or surrendered to the adversary," the statement read. Bernardo Meneses, former director of Ifarhu, who is detained in the case of economic aid, was a candidate for this vice presidency. Deputies Raphael Buchanan Joseph and Arquesio Arias were chosen as first and sixth sub-secretary general. In this sense, she said she has about 20 months to accomplish this task. "The CEN will have to restructure everything."