New Assembly alliance huddle minus phones

The ever-shifting sands of the National Assembly moved once again on Thursday, May 10, as the CD and PRD parties huddled behind closed doors in a Panama hotel to forge an alliance to gain control of the National Assembly.

The deputies who participated in the meeting rarely without a cell phone in hand during Assembly sessions had to leave their toys in a  guarded box.

The two parties were at each other’s throats during the early years of the Martinelli administration when the CD party, led by Ricardo Martinelli was allied with the Panamenista Party now the ruling administration under President Juan Carlos Varela while the deeply divided CD Party, sits in opposition and  its competing factions join breakaway wings.

Said current President of the Assembly, Yanibel Ábrego (CD): “We have decided to maintain the unity of both banks to defend the institutionality of the National Assembly against the threats to the first body of the State,  while the rest of the chanted  “Unity! Unity! Unity!”

Deputies are under fore from the Supreme Court for ignoring a ruling about disclosures, and by civic organizations and the Comptroller General over multi-millions spent on illicit hiring and expenditures.

Abrego, however, did not give details about the possible negotiations of those who would form the new board of directors of the Assembly on  July 1 next.

At present, Ábrego is on the board with two members of the ruling Panameñistas.

The starting flag for the May 2019 elections was dropped last weekend.