This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PANAMA 000144 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
VANCOUVER FOR CG ARREAGA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PM POLITICS FOREIGN POLICY
SUBJECT: PANAMA: CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IS NOW A FACT 
 
REF: PANAMA 01963 
 
SUMMARY/COMMENT 
--------------- 
¶1. (SBU) Panama's revised constitution, now in effect for one 
month, fulfills a key goal of President Torrijos's domestic 
political agenda.  The entire constitutional revision process 
-- from its post-May 2004 national election start to its 
November 15 appearance in the national register -- took only 
five months.  While most of the changes are clear 
improvements, some observers claim that the amendments mostly 
are superficial "patches" to a dictatorship-era constitution 
that should be completely rewritten.  Without disputing that 
directly, Torrijos, whose Democratic Revolutionary Party's 
(PRD) legislative majority assured easy passage in the 
Assembly, told El Panama America, "I'm convinced that we've 
made a giant step in the modernization of the State." 
 
¶2. (SBU) Discussion, approval, and implementation of the 
reform package entailed a convoluted procedure.  President 
Torrijos remitted the reforms approved by the outgoing, 
Arnulfista-dominated legislature in July to incoming 
legislators during the first week of September, who approved 
the package on October 26.  After President Torrijos signed 
the package, it entered into effect on November 15.  Most of 
the approved reforms have immediate effect.  Others only take 
effect after the 2009 national election, such as capping the 
size of the Legislative Assembly at 71 and eliminating double 
redundancy for vice presidential, legislative, and mayoral 
alternates.  Overall, the reforms offer a quick-fix to some 
of Panama's most egregious political practices.  End Summary. 
 
Overview of the Changes 
----------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) The principal constitutional amendments aim to: 
 
---reduce the number of elected officials 
---reduce the transition period between administrations 
---limit legislative immunity, change the legislature's name 
from "Legislative Assembly" to "National Assembly" and change 
the title of legislators to "diputados," a semantic move to 
expand their national law-making purview 
---prohibit the President from appointing Supreme Court 
Justices directly from the Cabinet or legislature 
---mandate a referendum to ratify and plan for Canal 
expansion, and 
---define a mechanism for convoking a Constituent Assembly 
(Constituyente) 
 
¶4. (SBU) The constitutional reforms aim to reduce government 
payrolls by cutting the number of Vice Presidents from two to 
one, cutting the number of legislative seats to 71 (fixed) 
from 78 (variable, tied to population), reducing the number 
of legislative alternates from two to one per legislator, and 
reducing the number of Deputy Mayors from two to one.  Those 
changes will take effect after the 2009 election. 
 
¶5.  (U) The revised constitution cuts the transition time 
between new administrations and legislatures to two months 
(from four).  Future Inauguration Days will fall on July 1 
instead of September 1.  All officials elected on May 1, 2004 
will finish their terms two months "early" on June 30, 2009. 
(COMMENT: Many Panamanians complained about the four-month 
transitions between the Moscoso and Torrijos administrations, 
noting that the lengthy period created virtual paralysis on 
policy and decisionmaking -- with the notable exception of 
the constitutional reforms themselves. END COMMENT.) 
 
Legislative immunity reduced 
---------------------------- 
¶6.  (SBU) The new constitution permits the Supreme Court, 
without Assembly permission, to investigate legislators 
involved in unethical and/or illegal actions, a change that 
sharply reduces legislative immunity.  (Note: Except for one 
notorious 1994 case when a legislator was caught in the act 
of bribing businessmen, the Assembly had rejected all Public 
Ministry requests to investigate its members, including 
Carlos Afu, who became notorious for waving what he claimed 
was a down payment on thousands of dollars in bribe money 
before television cameras in 2002.  End note.) 
Changes to the Judicial Branch 
------------------------------ 
¶7.  (SBU) The revised constitution forbids legislators or 
Cabinet members from serving on the Supreme Court until they 
have been out of office for five years and requires that 
judicial alternates ("suplentes") be appointed from within 
the judicial branch.  (COMMENT: The President can no longer 
appoint lawyers, whose firms may have cases before the Court, 
as alternates.  This move addresses widespread public 
complaints regarding conflict of interest between prominent 
law firms and the high court.  More importantly, this change 
is a direct response to President Moscoso's appointment of 
two members of her cabinet to the Supreme Court.  On the 
other hand, the new language would conceivably permit 
President Torrijos to appoint longtime PRD partisans to 
Panama's highest court, thereby counteracting the purported 
intent of de-politicizing the Court.  END COMMENT.) 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Article 221 permits the Attorney General (AG) and 
the Solicitor General (SG) to appoint their own alternates 
from within the Public Ministry to represent them during 
absences, eliminating the president's former power to make 
10-year appointments to such posts. 
 
Electoral Tribunal Independence 
------------------------------- 
¶9.  (SBU) The revisions increase the independence of the 
Electoral Tribunal (TE) by giving it more budgetary control 
and by explicitly prohibiting Supreme Court oversight of 
electoral matters in most cases.  This reform also codifies 
procedures to appoint the three electoral magistrates for 
staggered 10-year terms. 
 
Comptroller General 
------------------- 
¶10.  (SBU) The revised Article 281 establishes a "Tribunal de 
Cuentas" to investigate, prosecute and rule on malfeasance of 
government accounts, pending legislative action.  Previously, 
the Comptroller General (CG) held those powers. 
 
Contempt Out, Wiretaps In 
---------------------------- 
¶11.  (SBU) Under the constitutional revision, Supreme Court 
justices lose their former power to jail or fine people for 
contempt without trial, which had been applied capriciously 
and to partisan political ends. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The revised Article 29 permits wiretapping with 
prior authorization, which the constitution previously 
forbade.  Evidence obtained from unauthorized wiretaps is not 
admissible in court. 
 
Political parties "democratized" 
-------------------------------- 
¶14.  (SBU) The revised constitution requires political 
parties to democratize their internal structures and 
operations.  But the Assembly decided not to change a 
provision that allows political parties to unseat their 
members from the legislature, an effective tool to enforce 
party discipline, regardless of constituent sentiment. 
(COMMENT:  The PRD was the only party that held primaries 
before the May 2004 election.  Other parties, particularly, 
Mireya Moscoso's Arnulfista Party, have suffered heavy 
criticism for failing to practice internal democracy.  END 
COMMENT.) 
 
Reforms With Presidential Fingerprints 
-------------------------------------- 
¶15.  (SBU) Two new provisions reflect particular presidential 
interests: One eliminates the age requirement for foreign 
adopted children of Panamanian nationals who want to become 
Panamanian citizens (previously they had to be 18 years old). 
 That change will permit former President Moscoso's 
13-year-old son, adopted in Costa Rica, to be naturalized. 
The other prohibits discrimination based on disabilities. 
President Torrijos' daughter, Daniela, is a child with 
special needs. 
 
Indigenous Over-representation? 
------------------------------- 
¶16.  (SBU) A new constitutional provision assigning two 
legislative seats to the Kuna and three to the Ngobe-Bugle 
indigenous groups may be challenged before the Supreme Court. 
 Critics claim that new provision disproportionately favors 
the two groups (since under this provision 4% of the 
population would have 7% of the legislators).  Critics also 
allege that it is racially discriminatory. 
 
Procedure for Constitutional Convention 
--------------------------------------- 
¶17.  (SBU) The revised constitution spells out how a 
constitutional convention (Constituyente) may be convoked -- 
i.e., by a presidential decision, with legislative approval; 
by a 2/3 Legislative Assembly vote; or by petition of 20% of 
citizens over age 18 (about 380,000 people).  The new text 
must then be submitted to a national referendum.  The 
Constituyente may not introduce retroactive changes or alter 
the terms of sitting elected officials. 
 
WATT