The rector of the University of Panama, Dr. Eduardo Flores Castro, announced that starting next week, the application period for the positions of rector, deans, and directors of regional centers will open. The country's first higher education institution, through the University Electoral Organ, officially called on the university community to participate in the application period, which will take place from March 9 to April 13, 2026, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It was also announced that the preliminary admission of candidacies will begin on April 20, 2026. According to the electoral calendar, the electoral process for the election of the rector, deans, vice deans, directors, and deputy directors of the regional university centers was approved, with the election day set for July 1, 2026. The publication of candidacies will be done through a notice for 48 hours, followed by a two-business-day period for challenges after the official announcement. In this regard, the rector reminded the university community that the university's vehicles and other assets and resources must not be used for electoral proselytism activities. According to the released calendar, the electoral process will cover 16 faculties and nine regional university centers of the country. The participating regional centers are located in Azuero, Bocas del Toro, Coclé, Colón, Darién, Los Santos, Veraguas, Panamá Oeste, and San Miguelito. The right to vote can be exercised by professors with three or more years of seniority and active academic status, permanent administrative staff with at least five years of service, and regular students who enrolled before September 30, 2025, and appear on the final electoral roll. Rufino Fernández, president of the University Electoral Organ (UEO), reiterated the call to the university sectors to respect the established deadlines and to actively participate in this process, considered key to the democratic and institutional life of the University of Panama. Similarly, he urged the university community to become an active guarantor of compliance with the norms, from the scope of responsibility corresponding to each member. Fernández highlighted that the exercise of suffrage must be absolutely free from coercion, intimidation, undue pressure, conditioning, or offers of benefits of any kind. "These practices, in addition to contradicting university ethics, seriously violate the voter's freedom and compromise the legitimacy of the process," he expressed in a communiqué. Likewise, the president of the UEO expressed his confidence in the democratic maturity of the university community and its disposition to contribute to the construction of a transparent, equitable, and legitimate electoral process that strengthens institutionalism and honors the values that sustain the University of Panama.
