Bill 1.

Summary.

The bill amends Law 49 of 1984, which adopts the Organic Rules of Internal Procedure of the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional). It governs the swearing in of members and alternates using the official list of the Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Electoral), and the delegation accompanying the incoming President of the Republic. It gives parliamentary group coordinators the right to speak at Board meetings and requires that they be summoned beforehand. The Board would prepare agendas, draw up a budget based on published objectives and targets, and approve the committee calendar. Committee meetings and their documents must be announced at least 3 business days in advance.

The Assembly President’s powers include chairing sittings, deducting pay for late attendance, reporting on responses and appointments, requesting documents from public offices, and maintaining order. The bill regulates delegation of specified spending authorizations and makes any further delegation of those functions void. It also provides for an acting chair elected by roll call for urgent sittings. It sets eligibility requirements for the General Secretariat, deadlines for publishing minutes, supplying documents, processing summonses and making appointments, and rules for records in the Secretariat’s custody. The Board would approve staffing arrangements. The legislative budget would be sent to the Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo), and the number of trusted staff in each member’s office would be limited. The National Assembly would prepare a salary law for its public employees, excluding members.

The bill lists standing committees and their functions of receiving, examining, debating, voting on and reporting on bills. It assigns them research and recommendations with support from the Department of Parliamentary Studies (Departamento de Estudios Parlamentarios). Committee chairs would submit an annual report, with pay withheld until an omitted report is delivered. The bill governs summonses to public officials and the consequences of failing to appear. It allocates subject matter among committees responsible for the budget; economics; commerce and industry; agricultural development; infrastructure and transport; education and science; labor and health; the Canal and maritime affairs; foreign relations; anticorruption; social development and Indigenous peoples; and the environment and energy. Institutions and instruments named in these assignments include the Budget Committee (Comisión de Presupuesto), the Executive Branch, the General Salary Law (Ley General de Sueldos), the Panama Canal Authority (Autoridad del Canal de Panamá), and the Political Constitution of the Republic (Constitución Política de la República).

The Plenary could create investigative committees with representation proportional to parliamentary groups. Heads of public entities would have thirty calendar days to provide requested information, subject to an extension, and a committee report must not exceed the 90-day period. Standing committees would meet at least once a week. A chair who fails to convene a meeting while business remains pending would face a fine. Standing committee and subcommittee meetings would be public, with an opportunity for citizens to speak within the prescribed time, subject to the special rule for the Budget Committee and confidentiality for certain investigations.

The bill sets hours for ordinary sittings at the Justo Arosemena Legislative Palace (Palacio Legislativo Justo Arosemena), or another place designated by the Board. It provides pay deductions for absence from or early departure from the Plenary and restricts simultaneous committee meetings. Sittings would be broadcast on television, online and by radio, with sign language interpretation through at least one medium. Agendas would be published 24 hours in advance, and listed bills would be debated within no more than 4 months. The bill requires three debates for bills under its proposed procedure and provides for approval and publication of committee minutes.

For debate and voting, it specifies admissible motions, establishes electronic ordinary voting and roll call voting, prohibits secret ballots, and requires publication of each member’s vote. It governs explanations of votes and the procedure for bills objected to by the Executive Branch. Following a finding of partial unconstitutionality, it would require the Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia) to direct preparation of a new consolidated text. It provides for the resignation and replacement of a minister subject to a vote of censure and restricts that minister’s later appointment. It also provides pay deductions for leave taken to practise law before the Judicial Branch (Órgano Judicial). Members’ remuneration and entitlement to diplomatic passports are addressed.

Finally, the bill adds chapters on open parliament and public policy. It requires open data publication of expenditure, payrolls, budgets, declarations, activity reports, meetings, minutes and legislative proceedings. It provides for withholding pay when required reports are omitted and a financial consequence when information requests remain unanswered for 30 calendar days. It requires legislative proposals to address their relationship to public policy and calls for assessment of Executive Branch programs, projects and plans. The provisions could interest public employees, citizens, social organizations and the economic sectors within committee remits, including transport, agriculture, health, energy and maritime activities.