Presidential Inauguration Day in 2024

Monday July 1st 2024 is considered a national holiday for the inauguration of the new President of the Republic.

This is regulated in Article 181 of the Constitution of the Republic, which indicates that: “both the president and the vice president must take possession of their respective positions on the first day of the month of July following their election.”

Thus being a mandatory day of rest.  For this reason, public and private educational centers nationwide will not hold classes on July first.  Likewise, workers would not have to work, as Article 46 of the Labor Code stipulated.  If there are workers who must work that day, Article 49 of the Labor Code guarantees compensation.

General elections were held in Panama on May 5th 2024 to elect a new President of Panama, members of the National Assembly and local governments. Due to constitutional term limits, incumbent president Laurentino Cortizo was ineligible for a second consecutive term. The winners of the general election, including the new president of Panama, were inaugurated on July 1st.

The conservative candidate José Raúl Mulino, who was appointed as presidential candidate of Realizing Goals following the conviction and subsequent disqualification of former president Ricardo Martinelli, won the election with 34.2% of the vote.

Mulino defeated a total of seven other candidates, among whom his closest rival was Ricardo Lombana of MOCA, who received around 24.6%