---
title: "University of Panama Faces a Test of Leadership as Students Demand Repair and Accountability"
date: 2026-04-17
modified: 2026-04-18
author: ""
url: https://panamadaily.news/university-of-panama-election-student-crisis/
categories:
  - "Education"
  - "News"
  - "Politics"
tags:
  - "campus infrastructure"
  - "education budget"
  - "Panama"
  - "rector election"
  - "student protests"
  - "University of Panama"
---

# University of Panama Faces a Test of Leadership as Students Demand Repair and Accountability

## What Happened

The University of Panama is heading into an election season shaped by two realities: a leadership contest for the next rector and a growing student revolt over deteriorating campus conditions. Across the main campus, students describe crumbling buildings, broken bathrooms, and a bureaucracy that has failed to keep pace with the university’s size and importance.

Rubén Andrade, a second-year law student, says his first impression of the Faculty of Law and Political Science was one of disappointment rather than pride. He argues that the institution has fallen into neglect after years under the same leadership, and he has made his opposition visible with a cap reading “No a la reelección.”

Another law student, Sara Lazzo, shares that frustration. She says bathrooms lack water and basic supplies, while the university’s budget is not translating into visible improvements on the ground.

## A Campus Under Strain

The scene described by students is one of visible wear: cracked walls, mold, exposed steel, stained ceilings, and areas marked off with yellow caution tape that students still must walk around to reach class. At the entrance to the law faculty, a large banner reading “Hacia la luz” stands in sharp contrast to the daily experience of students passing through damaged facilities.

The University of Panama is operating this year with a budget of $317.5 million, divided between $297.4 million for operations and $20 million for investment. The institution had initially requested $410 million. Rector Eduardo Flores Castro has said the $77 million reduction affects the university’s ability to function and weakens the investment side of the budget, especially as enrollment is expected to exceed 90,000 students in 2026.

## The Race for the Rectorate

The university is preparing for a major transition. On July 1, the academic community will choose the next rector, along with other top administrative authorities, in an election that will shape the direction of the institution for the next five years.

According to the university electoral body, the nomination period closed on April 13. The names registered for the rectorate are César Augusto García Escobar, Migdalia Bustamante Villareal, José Emilio Moreno Ramos, Corina Pérez de Coronado, Roberto Ah Chong Falcón, and Denis Javier Chávez. They are still considered aspirants while the election authority reviews whether each meets the required qualifications.

The campaign period is set to begin on May 29 and run through June 29. Flores Castro’s term ends on September 30, but the next rector will inherit a university under pressure from both budget constraints and student dissatisfaction.

## What Students Want

For students like Andrade and Lazzo, the election is about more than names on a ballot. They want a university that invests in research, responds to national problems, and manages public money transparently. They are calling for safe classrooms, functioning laboratories, bathrooms with water and supplies, and professors who consistently show up to teach.

The complaints extend beyond one faculty. Students say the problems seen in law also reflect conditions in humanities, architecture, economics, and other parts of the university. As the campaign unfolds, the next rector will face a clear challenge: restoring confidence in the country’s largest public university while addressing years of visible neglect.