Weekly Report - 08 August 2024 (WR-24-31)

“A grave step backwards in anti-corruption efforts”. This was the assessment by local business lobby Asociación Panameña de Ejecutivos de Empresas (Apede) of a proposed legislative bill which would amend Panama’s criminal and criminal procedural code, and includes provisions on amnesties and pardons, and lessens penalties. The bill is serving as a first test for Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino who took office last month; there is suspicion that it is designed to benefit former president Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014), a key Mulino ally, whose presidential candidacy for the ruling Realizando Metas (RM) was barred by the electoral tribunal over a money-laundering conviction, paving the way for Mulino to run – and win.

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