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Caribbean & Central America - May 2017 (ISSN 1741-4458)
PANAMA: Mixed response to efforts to strengthen electoral legislation
Panama’s legislature last month approved changes to the national electoral code (last updated in 2013) as part of efforts to crack down on corruption in the political system. Addressing the loopholes in the electoral code was widely considered a priority for President Juan Carlos Varela, who won the May 2014 presidential election in part due to his pledge to tackle institutional corruption. The electoral court (TE), which played a key role in drafting the legislative initiative (known as 292), hailed the proposed reform package in its original form as the most important of the last 25 years. However, the final version, approved in the third debate on 18 April by the 71-member unicameral legislature, has provoked criticism both from the TE as well as the civil society platform Foro Ciudadano Pro Reformas Electorales (‘Foro Ciudadano’) which was also involved in drafting the proposal.
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