Panama Business Chamber Urges Lawmakers to Rethink a Rushed Election Bill

PANAMA · POLITICS

Panama electoral reform has drawn a sharp warning from business. The Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama says lawmakers rewrote the rules in a late-night session and must slow down.

“Democracy is not legislated in the dark,” the chamber said in a statement published on Sunday 27 September. Its target is Bill 699, which a National Assembly committee approved in first debate four days earlier with dozens of late changes.

What the business chamber said

The chamber, known by its Spanish initials CCIAP, is one of Panama’s main business associations. Its statement was signed by its president, Aurelio Barría Pino.

It said the committee approved substantive changes during a marathon night session, outside the consensus built in 2025. It described a debate held “between intentional haste, opacity and the darkness of the night”.

The chamber accepted that the Assembly has the right to amend bills. But it said any major departure from a widely consulted text needs proper deliberation and technical support.

The chamber had taken a similar stand in 2021, during an earlier rewrite of the code.

This time it asked lawmakers to hear the Electoral Tribunal, business groups and civil society before the second debate. “Under no circumstances should we accept less,” Barría said on Sunday.

What the committee changed

The biggest change concerns money. Two deputies, Benicio Robinson and Luis Eduardo Camacho, raised the cap on private donations for candidates, scaled by the number of voters.

A mayoral candidate could raise US$150,000 in a district of up to 50,000 voters and US$500,000 where there are more than 200,000. For deputies the ceiling runs from US$300,000 to US$500,000.

Independent candidates face higher hurdles. The committee raised the signatures they need to 3 percent and cut the time allowed to collect them.

The committee also removed separate lists of independent candidates in constituencies that elect more than one deputy, a change Vamos opposed.

New parties would need more than 68,000 members, and the signatures of a party’s founders would no longer count towards that total. The chamber also objects to a change it says allows simultaneous re-election to two elected posts.

Who voted, and how they defend it

The Government, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Committee approved the bill by 7 votes to 2. The two votes against came from Alexandra Brenes and Walkiria Chandler of Vamos, the independent coalition that forms the largest bloc.

The votes in favour came from the PRD, the former ruling party, and from Realizando Metas, President José Raúl Mulino’s party. Three smaller parties joined them.

Brenes said citizens hoping to run as independents lose most. She complained that the changes were voted on without discussion.

Robinson, who chairs the committee and leads the PRD, said the session was public and televised.

“Vamos deputies talk about democracy, but they do not accept losing a vote. Stop lying!” he wrote on social media.

The election authority’s view

Narciso Arellano Moreno, who presides over the Electoral Tribunal, said the committee made more than 50 changes to his institution’s text. Some, he said, altered the spirit of the proposal.

He said the tribunal persuaded deputies to withdraw two changes it considered unconstitutional. One would have stopped it from issuing rules once an election had been called.

The tribunal says it will go to the Supreme Court only if an article in the final law breaches the constitution.

For background on the country and its politics, see Panama Explained: The Canal, the Economy, the Politics and What to Watch.

What comes next

The bill now goes to the full Assembly for its second debate, where articles can still be changed or removed. A third debate and the president’s signature would follow.

Mulino can also object to a bill and send it back to the Assembly.

The committee vote does not make these rules law, and the current electoral code still applies.

Nor is the chamber’s statement binding. It speaks for employers who call trust in institutions one of a country’s most important assets.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Panama’s Bill 699?

Bill 699 is a 169-article reform of Panama’s electoral code, drafted by the Electoral Tribunal after a national consultation in 2025. It sets the rules for the 2029 general election, including party formation, independent candidates and campaign finance.

Why is Panama’s business chamber criticising the reform?

The Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama says a committee approved major changes overnight without proper debate. It objects to higher hurdles for independents and new parties and to changes on private campaign money.

Is the electoral reform already law?

No. It has passed only a committee’s first debate. It still needs second and third debates in the full National Assembly and the president’s signature, and the current electoral code applies until then.

What campaign-finance limits would Bill 699 set?

Private donations to a mayoral candidate could reach US$150,000 to US$500,000 depending on the district’s size, and US$300,000 to US$500,000 for a deputy; new parties would need over 68,000 members.

Sources: Panamá América, CCIAP statement, 27 September 2026, Infobae, CCIAP on the electoral reform, 27 September 2026, TVN, Aurelio Barría Pino on Cámara Opina, 27 September 2026, La Prensa, first-debate vote and donation caps, 24 September 2026, Telemetro, changes to party formation, 24 September 2026, Panamá América, Electoral Tribunal on the changes, 25 September 2026. All retrieved 27 September 2026. The CCIAP position was issued as a public statement by the chamber.

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