The Cabinet decided today to withdraw a controversial proposal for Constitutional reform and called for a “national debate” sponsored by the UNDP (United Nations).

PANAMA - In Brief 23 Dec 2019 by Marco Fernandez

The reform was a leading campaign issue by all the parties in the recent presidential contest. Cortizo and the PRD party opted for following a long process of modifications established in the Constitution: two approvals by the Legislative Assembly plus a national referendum. The draft of the initial proposal was inked by the Concertación Nacional (a group with ample participation of citizens and organizations) and sent to Cortizo´s desk. He decided to pass-through the document to the Assembly without any input from the Executive. The reforms emphasized a new (although not profound) governance structure, where the Diputados will lose some of their privileges, including the lack of transparency in the management of budgetary resources. The legislators misread their power: as soon as they started re-reforming the draft (favoring more rather than less power to them), the media, private sector organizations and political parties criticized the changes introduced by the Diputados, and labor unions took to the streets arguing against the new version, but especially against the mechanism adopted by Cortizo. They called for a progressive Constitutional reform made by “the people” and not by traditional politicians. Cortizo decided last month, not to follow-up on the with the legislators and started conversations with the Concertation, his party, and his advisors to keep the reforms alive, but he failed in the attempt. It was clear that the political cost of going along with the initiative would be higher than the benefits.What might have been the fuse that blew in the process last week?Several explanations will be heard during the Christmas season. Our hypothesis is the followi...

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