National Assembly in disarray – court bound

Panama’s National Assembly remains in disarray as the caucus of the Panameñista Party refuses to recognize the restructuring of the Credentials Committee calling it totally illegal.

Deputy Luis Eduardo Quirós, acting as a spokesman for his copartners said that they do not recognize the actions of the plenary session of the National Assembly because they acted against a court order.

He said they will follow a series of legal actions, which includes the presentation of an Amparo of guarantees in the Supreme Court.

“We do not rule out other actions, such as a complaint of contempt and a  criminal complaint for abuse of authority, so the legal fight continues from our bench, “he said.

The reaction of the ruling party caucus came after the full legislature decided to reshape the commission on Monday, March 12 after three weeks of political strife between the ruling party and the Democratic  Change (CD) and Democratic Revolutionary (PRD ) opposition parties over control of the commission.

The new commission – replacing the one elected in July 2017 – is made up of three deputies of the PRD -Elías Castillo, Alfredo Pérez and Rubén De León-; three of CD -Sergio Gálvez, Juan Poveda and Fernando Carrillo-; two  Panameñista -Luis Eduardo Quirós and Jorge Alberto Rosas-, and the independent Ana Matilde Gómez.