Business leaders ask Assembly to pause  transparency debate

Panama’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture has called on the National Assembly to postpone the discussion of a bill that repeals a law, which dictates standards for transparency in public management.

In a statement, the business union said that in principle, it is not opposed to the law and making changes to it but maintains that limiting a discussion of this magnitude to a few, ignoring a wide and extensive citizen consultation, with an “inexplicable rush and the fact that we are in the middle of an electoral tournament gives rise to worry and reject any attempt to modify without first exhausting and abiding by all possible queries”.

“Although we are relieved by the decision of the National Assembly to extend the consultation period in a scenario that allows greater participation and access to the discussion, we believe that the current political-electoral situation creates detrimental conditions for modifying such an important law,” it said.

According to the Cciap, it is an opportune moment for the different presidential candidates to establish a position and speak to the electorate clearly about their possible actions on this issue.

“In any case, we will remain vigilant if, on the contrary, the final intention of reforming it is to benefit live play, politicking, and opacity; which is totally contrary to the spirit with which this innovative law was promoted more than 20 years ago”, it highlighted.