This provision, ratified in third debate by 46 votes in favor, 10 against and one abstention; and which could be sanctioned or vetoed by the President of the Republic, reforms the Electoral Code.

The initiative is seen by analysts as a sign of the first alliances of political organizations for the general elections of 2024.

In the session of the National Assembly, yesterday, according to La Prensa, the representatives of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) added votes together with those of the Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement, to support 15 legislators of Cambio Democratico (CD) who are facing a process of expulsion and revocation in their group.

Their detractors assure that the pact could even be linked to the reelection of Cristiano Adames, of the PRD, as president of the unicameral parliament.

Article 151 of the Panamanian Constitution and Article 488 of the Electoral Code establish that the political party to which a seat has been awarded may revoke the mandate of the main or alternate deputy it has nominated or registered.

In the opinion of lawyer Ernesto Cedeño, the project has hints of unconstitutionality and points out that what a deputy must do is to try to respect what is in the law and the rule of law, even if they do not like it.

For the president of the CD, Romulo Roux, the project discredits the National Assembly and what it does is to shield those who follow the line of the PRD, without taking into account the voters or the country, only to serve themselves.

pgh/abo/mgt/ga