Business leaders call for constitutional changes

Panama’s Chamber of Commerce, in its last weekly bulletin for 2018 reiterated on  Sunday, December 30  its call for “profound changes in the Political Charter, especially in the field of the administration of justice.”

The association urged the  National Assembly to welcome the constitutional initiative of the business sector during its last legislative period, for something similar to take place in the National Assembly to elect, in the first of its ordinary periods. “This procedure, contemplated in the Constitution of the Republic, will be a transcendental step for Panama,”

According to the Chamber recent   months have passed under “the shadow of uncertainty” determined by political factors that have exposed the tensions between the State Bodies, “a sign of the need for true separation and independence of these powers, “without it  being an impediment to their being able to work in harmonious collaboration “.

“The best example that  such a scenario  does not exist is that until now they have not been able to ratify the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, a concurrent element in the crisis that affects the administration of justice in the country.”

The business organization indicated that the behavior of the economy evidences the deceleration caused by the imminent government change, and “whose exacerbation is necessary to counteract with a vision based on the concrete possibilities of the country”.

“This optimistic attitude is what leads the Chamber to trust that the government, the labor force, and private enterprise, can guarantee Panama a climate that allows the recovery of a full institutional framework and once  again, encourage the consolidation of participatory democracy and affirm the continuity of its economic growth, in the perspective of making it more equitable and just,” says the statement from the union.

Failing lawmakers
On Thursday, December 27, the  National Assembly closed the extraordinary sessions convened by the Executive without ratifying the appointment of two new magistrates of the Supreme Court.