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Weekly Report - 28 July 2011 (WR-11-30)

PANAMA: VP triggers fresh constitutional debate

A contribution to the “constitutional debate” and “nothing to worry about” was how Juan Carlos Varela, Panama’s vice-president and head of the Partido Panameñista (PP), the main coalition partner in President Ricardo Martinelli’s Alianza por el Cambio, downplayed his recent refusal to take over the presidency in Martinelli’s absence, in violation of the constitution. A leading contender for the 2014 presidential contest (from which Martinelli is barred from entering) Varela’s stance, which was slammed by legal experts, was motivated by fears that such a move would exclude him from the 2014 race in line with a different constitutional provision, serving as the latest sign of strains within the fragile ruling alliance.

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