Panama’s Vamos Party is Considering Expelling Neftalí Zamora and Manuel Samaniego

The provisional board of directors of the Vamos coalition announced the suspension of deputies Netfalí Zamora and Manuel Samaniego as members of the organization, following questions related to the approval of transfers of funds that increased the budget of the National Assembly.  According to a statement released this Thursday, the organization believes that the explanations offered so far regarding its involvement in these budgetary movements have been insufficient. The group says it analyzed the actions of both deputies, who are members of the Assembly’s Budget Committee.

Vamos’s Bloc is Tied with RM’s and is Reduced to 15 Deputies

Vamos started with 20 representatives. In two years, Betserai Richards, Carlos Saldaña, Manuel Cheng left, and as of this Thursday, Neftalí Zamora and Manuel Samaniego were suspended. The Vamos coalition is no longer the majority bloc in the National Assembly. When the 2024-2029 legislative period began, Vamos had 20 representatives. But then Betserai Richards left (forming a separate bloc with three representatives elected by the Otro Camino or Moca Movement). Later, Manuel Cheng and Carlos Saldaña were suspended. And now, Zamora and Samaniego have been suspended. On the morning of Thursday, June 11, they learned that the Vamos board had suspended them because, as members of the Assembly’s Budget Committee, they had approved transfers to that branch of government for payroll expenses.