Panama Election Bill Raises Donation Caps as Critics Warn of Dirty Money
PANAMA · POLITICS
Key Facts
- The country Panama uses the US dollar and elects its president, National Assembly and mayors together. The next general election is due in May 2029.
- Why it matters Bill 699 rewrites the electoral code. Lawmakers changed the Electoral Tribunal’s draft to allow bigger private donations and slower campaign reporting.
- What happened On Monday 28 September, anti-corruption campaigner Olga de Obaldía told TVN the changes lower accountability and “open the door” to organised-crime money.
- The numbers Caps for deputies of US$300,000 to US$500,000 per candidate. Parties would get 90 working days, not 30, to file certain campaign accounts.
- What it means for you Nothing changes yet. The bill still needs two full Assembly debates and the president’s signature.
- Still open Whether the full Assembly reverses the money changes in second debate, and when that debate starts.
Panama campaign finance rules are now the sharpest point of dispute in the country’s electoral reform. Transparency advocates and a former election judge say lawmakers raised donation caps while weakening the checks on that money.
The target is Bill 699, drafted by the Electoral Tribunal, Panama’s independent election authority. A National Assembly committee approved it in first debate last week by seven votes to two, after adding dozens of changes.
“Not only the amounts”
Olga de Obaldía heads the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom, which belongs to the Transparency International movement. “It is not only raising the amounts, it is lowering the standard of accountability,” she told TVN on Monday.
Her biggest fear, she said, is “dirty money” from organised crime or corruption. She added that her foundation’s monitoring found candidates who have still not filed reports, and gaps between declared donations and spending.
What the committee changed
Deputies Benicio Robinson and Luis Eduardo Camacho proposed caps on private donations scaled by the number of voters. Candidates for deputy could raise US$300,000, US$400,000 or US$500,000, according to TVN and La Estrella de Panamá.
La Estrella calculated that the tiers allow up to US$17.4 million across Panama’s 43 circuits. A flat US$300,000 limit per circuit would have allowed US$12.9 million.
TVN, which obtained the approved text, reported that parties would get 90 working days after the election to file certain campaign accounts. The Tribunal’s draft allowed 30.
The Panamanian Association of Business Executives (Apede) also objects that the window to prosecute electoral crimes shrinks from the four years the Tribunal proposed to three. La Prensa reported that election-period immunity from prosecution stays in place for all party leaders.
A former judge’s warning
Guillermo Márquez Amado, an Electoral Tribunal judge from 1990 to 1996, told La Estrella there was no justification for the increase. He called it a sign of the “greed” of career politicians.
Public or private money matters less than how it is policed, he argued. He also criticised the Electoral Prosecutor’s Office, which investigates election crimes, as too passive.
The committee vote followed a business backlash reported earlier in Panama Business Chamber Urges Lawmakers to Rethink a Rushed Election Bill.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is unclear whether the full Assembly will keep the Panama campaign finance changes, including higher caps and longer reporting deadlines. TVN and La Estrella said the second debate could begin this week, but by Monday afternoon there was no report that it had started.
The Panamenista Party plans a minority report asking to send the bill back to committee, La Estrella reported. Whether the Tribunal will challenge any article in the Supreme Court is also open.
More: Panama news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Panama’s Bill 699 change?
It rewrites the electoral code, raising deputy-candidate donation caps from US$300,000 to US$500,000 and giving parties 90 working days, not 30, to file certain campaign accounts.
Why do critics object?
Anti-corruption campaigner Olga de Obaldía told TVN on 28 September the changes lower accountability and open the door to organised-crime money.
Is the reform law yet?
No. It still needs two full Assembly debates and the president’s signature.
When is Panama’s next election?
May 2029, when the president, National Assembly and mayors are elected together.
Sources: TVN, 28 Sep 2026; TVN, 25 Sep 2026; TVN, 27 Sep 2026; La Estrella de Panamá, 24 Sep 2026; La Estrella de Panamá, 28 Sep 2026; La Estrella de Panamá, 28 Sep 2026; La Prensa, 26 Sep 2026.
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