HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Panama Canal expansion referendum was held on October 22, 2006, when the citizens of
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
approved the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
expansion project by a wide margin.


Constitutional background

According to article 325 of the Panamanian
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
, any proposal for the construction of a third set of locks or a sea-level
Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...
on the existing route that the
Panama Canal Authority The Panama Canal Authority ( es, Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP)) is the agency of the government of Panama responsible for the operation and management of the Panama Canal. The ACP took over the administration of the canal from the Panama ...
(ACP) proposes has to be approved by the
executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ...
and submitted to the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
for its approval or rejection. It also has to be submitted to a national referendum no earlier than three months after its approval by the National Assembly.Panamanian Constitution, page 109.


Proposal

The Panama Canal expansion proposal was presented on April 24, 2006 by President Martín Torrijos to the Panamanian people after years of study by the ACP. The largest project at the Canal since its original construction, the expansion doubled its capacity and allowed more traffic. The project created a new lane of traffic along the Canal through the construction of a new set of locks. Details of the project included the following integrated components: * The construction of two
lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...
complexes, one on the Atlantic side and another on the Pacific side, each with three chambers, which include three water-saving basins; * The excavation of new access channels to the new locks and the widening of existing navigational channels; and * The deepening of the navigation channels and the elevation of Gatún Lake's maximum operating level.Panama Canal Expansion Proposal by the Panama Canal Authority
/ref> According to the ACP, the project had an estimated cost of US$5.25 billion, would be self-financed by tolls increase and would take up to 7 or 8 years of construction time. Panama's
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
approved the project, and on July 14, the National Assembly unanimously approved the proposal to expand the Canal. In addition, the Assembly created and passed a law mandating a national
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...
in which the people of Panama would vote to approve expansion. The referendum was held on October 22, 2006, the first Sunday at least 90 days after the legislation was signed."Panama to Vote on Canal Expansion Oct. 22", ''Washington Post''
/ref>


Referendum question

The referendum used a single
ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...
divided in half with ''Sí'' (Yes) at the left with a green background and ''No'' at the right with a red background. Above these two options the text of the question read: :''Do you approve the proposal of construction of a Third Set of Locks on the Panama Canal?''Electoral Tribunal's rules for the referendum


Campaign

Opposition to the project was vigorous as skeptics questioned the government's cost estimates and raised fears that corruption would doom the project. But the government's campaign for the expansion, the largest modernization of the canal in its history, was even more intense. Officials portrayed a "sí" vote as a vote for the children of Panama. Without an expanded canal, officials predicted, shipping traffic would find other routes and Panama's growing economy would dry up.


Polls

The dates listed are normally the date the survey was concluded, not the date it was published. Most news and political affairs sources use the convention of using the last date that the poll was conducted in order to establish the inclusion/exclusion of current events. Only polls after the proposal unveiling (April 24, 2006) are included. # This poll was done as a simulated referendum, using a similar ballot to the one used on the October 22 referendum, having a secret vote. People that said that they were definitely ''not'' going to vote (16%) were excluded from this simulation. This exercise had no null or blank votes. # In this poll the question was made out loud and the answer was registered. # This time the same people were asked to make a simulated vote too. People that said they were not going to vote on the referendum were excluded (7.8%). The
margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in the results of a survey. The larger the margin of error, the less confidence one should have that a poll result would reflect the result of a census of the e ...
in these surveys is typically between 2 and 2.9%. See the links for actual error values associated with particular surveys.


Voting

The voting process went smoothly, without major events that could tamper the results. The
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...
was low, 43.32%. Voting took place on schedule from 7am to 4pm but people still in line at that time were allowed to vote. Unofficial results were made known by the Electoral Tribunal by its system of unofficial results reporting, just 30 minutes after the voting ended. This system consists of series of data-collecting centers that communicate with the
Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...
Press Room of the Electoral Tribunal. The centers receive the unofficial results given by each polling station by phone, cell phone and other means, while the official results begin their journey to the different counting centers. Under this system, by 6 p.m. (2 hours after the voting ended) the results of approximately 25% of polling stations were available and the likely approval of the project was known. However, the official results were the responsibility of the National Scrutiny Junta, and that took three days as official declarations came from all over the country to
Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...
.


Results


Reactions

*
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Martín Torrijos Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino (; born July 18, 1963) is a Panamanian politician who was President of Panama from 2004 to 2009. He was fathered out of wedlock by Panamanian military ruler Omar Torrijos, the ''de facto'' head of Panama from 1968 ...
said this was the most important decision this generation had to take. He considered the decision an opportunity that has to include all Panamanians, the ones that voted Yes, the ones that voted No, the ones that decided not to vote and the ones too young to vote. *
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
congratulated
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
on its referendum result and offered to participate in the expansion of the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
. * The trade organization Dansk Rederiforening (the Danish Shipping Council) was pleased with the decision to expand the Panama Canal and believed that the expansion would be positive both to the Danish and the international shipping industry. * U.S.
Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...
William A. Eaton said that "There will be an impact on the pocketbook. The transit costs will be cheaper, and that will have an effect on the market. This is important to the U.S. It's important to our economy". * John LaRue, executive director of the U.S.
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
of
Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "''Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio ...
, said "The (canal project) just improves trade, the West Coast ports have grown dramatically because of all the Asian cargo. Routing ships to the Gulf would save the West Coast's infrastructure and benefit us as all. I don't see any negatives." *
Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency and is one of the " Big Three credit rating agencies", the other two being Moody's and Standard & Poor's. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRS ...
stated that the approval of the Panama Canal expansion referendum could yield positive results for the country in the long term in terms of higher external and fiscal receipts and
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
growth prospects. However, the referendum itself would not have an immediate impact on Panama's sovereign ratings, as uncertainties remained about debt financing, future revenues from tolls, and Panama's ongoing fiscal consolidation.


References


External links


Official Panama Canal Homepage.Video Explaining the Project.Animation of the New Locks in action.
{{Panama Canal 2006 referendums Panama Canal Referendums in Panama 2006 in Panama 2006 elections in Central America