Panama's Electoral Tribunal late Sunday declared Jose Raul Mulino, the candidate of the opposition alliance comprised of the Realizing Goals party and Alianza movement, as the winner of the presidential elections after a preliminary count of 87 percent of voting stations.
Mulino, a former lawyer, led the field of eight candidates with 34 percent of the votes, followed by Ricardo Lombana of the Otro Camino movement, with 25 percent of the votes.
Mulino entered the race as the running mate of former president Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) but became a candidate on his own right after Martinelli was disqualified from running in March due to a conviction related to money laundering.
On Sunday, the head of the Electoral Tribunal Alfredo Junca confirmed via a video call to Mulino that he was the preliminary winner of the presidential race in the 2024 general elections.
Junca congratulated Mulino and invited him to attend a plenary session of the tribunal on Sunday evening.
Mulino said that in the coming five-year term he was confident in establishing a peaceful, honest, and above all, efficient government that could address the enormous needs of Panamanians.
The former minister of justice and of public security also pledged his commitment to leading a unity government as soon as possible.
According to Panama's Electoral Tribunal, a total of 3,035 polling centers have been set up for the general elections, with more than 3 million registered voters and a turnout of 77.25 percent.
Members of the National Assembly and leaders of local governments will also be elected during the general elections.
Mulino wins Panama's presidential elections
Mulino wins Panama's presidential elections
Mulino wins Panama's presidential elections
Mulino wins Panama's presidential elections
The depreciation of Japanese yen has caused an old coffee shop in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan to suffer rising financial strain due to surging import costs.
The coffee shop, with a 50-year history, is facing fund squeeze. The owner, 82-year-olld Hajime Yoneyama said that the depreciation has led to increased prices for imported raw materials, particularly coffee beans sourced mainly from Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia, resulting in a 20 percent surge in purchase costs.
"The purchase price (of coffee beans) has increased by 20 percent. I feel that the prices of vegetables and oil have also increased by at least 20 percent. Now the prices of these things continue to rise, with no sign of stopping. The expenditure situation of the store may become more severe in the future," said him.
Yoneyama said that he had to raise the prices to sustain the coffee shop's operation.
"Recently we had to raise the price. Previously, a cup of coffee cost 500 yen. It's no longer sustainable (without price increases) and now it's up to 600 yen," said the owner.
Furthermore, in an effort to cut costs, the elderly Yoneyama works with just one employee, yet the store business kept crippling. He said that a significant portion of his pension funds is used to cover store expenses and employee wages.
Locals worry that if the weak yen trend persists, the pressure on livelihoods will further intensify.
"The prices of everything are increasing, food, drink, vegetables. It would be great if there was a solution. Medical supplies are also an issue that needs to be considered. I do worry about what the future will bring," said a local resident.
"Not only are labor costs rising, but gas costs are also rising, so operators need to cut expenses, such as advertising expenses, and the work that they originally paid to hire people to do may now be borne entirely by the operators themselves," said another resident.
Japan’s time-honored coffee shop face fund squeeze due to weakening yen
