A conservative supermarket magnate was favored to win presidential elections Sunday that will determine who oversees expansion of the Panama Canal, the nation's economic engine.
Ricardo Martinelli, of the opposition Alliance for Change, had a double-digit lead in the polls over former Housing Minister Balbina Herrera of Panama's governing coalition, which is led by the Democratic Revolutionary Party.
The winner, whose term ends in 2014, will have to guide Panama through the world economic crisis and the $5.25 billion expansion of the canal to increase its capacity and accommodate larger ships.
Few problems were reported despite heavy turnout at the country's 2,382 voting stations, observers from the Organization of American States said in a preliminary report issued after polls closed. Early returns were expected late Sunday.
The candidates cast their ballots and talked of unity, regardless of the outcome.
"I believe in God and the Panamanian people," Herrera said at a school in the capital.
"Both winners and losers must work to improve the country," Martinelli said. "Our problems don't end with an election."
The winner takes office July 1, replacing President Martin Torrijos.
Both Martinelli, 57, and Herrera, 54, supported the canal expansion, but recent world economic woes have generated uncertainty over the project, which is receiving $2.3 billion in international financing.
The canal project, which was approved in a 2006 referendum, is expected to create about 5,000 direct jobs in the small Central American nation between 2010 and 2011, when construction is at its peak, according to authorities.
The project would be "one of the points most closely attended to" by a Martinelli government, said Roberto Henriquez, vice president of Martinelli's political party.
Herrera has promised to "expand the canal satisfactorily in the programmed amount of time" and spread the capital's wealth to the rest of the country.
"My responsibility is to make the growth generated by the capital through the inter-oceanic canal reach the provinces and indigenous peoples," she said.
Panama's economy grew by an annual average of 8.7 percent over the past five years, and unemployment fell from 12 percent to 5.6 percent. The growth was fueled by foreign and state investment by the outgoing government of President Martin Torrijos. Growth this year is projected to be 3-4 percent.
In an April poll, about 50 percent of likely voters surveyed said they planned to vote for Martinelli, owner of Panama's largest supermarket chain, Super 99. Herrera earned 38 percent support.
The poll, conducted by Unimer Research International and published by Panama City's La Prensa newspaper, surveyed 1,600 Panamanians and had a sampling error margin of 2.5 percentage points. Earlier polls also suggested an advantage for Martinelli.
Also running was Guillermo Endara, a longshot candidate who served as president from 1989-1994.
Panamanians also elected a vice president, members of Congress, mayors and other local officials. More than 2.2 million people were eligible to vote, and the country's Elections Tribunal said it expected turnout of more than 75 percent, reported AP.
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