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Electoral court rejects Assembly rewrite of the 2029 rules bill

Expats do not vote in Panama's general elections, but they live inside the confidence those rules create. After the Assembly's first-debate rewrite of Proyecto de Ley 699, the Tribunal Electoral (TE) has now answered in public: several of those changes are "retrocesos," and the TE will not back measures it says put democracy, equity, and transparency for 2029 at risk.

On 1 October 2026, Telemetro, TVN, Infobae, and Crítica carried a TE statement signed by magistrates Narciso Arellano, Luis Guerra, and Alfredo Juncá. The bill still sits before the Assembly plenary for second and third debate. It is not law.

What the TE singles out

In the wording quoted by Telemetro, the TE says its original proposal had "significativos avances," while first-debate changes in the Comisión de Gobierno, Justicia y Asuntos Constitucionales include, among others:

  • Higher ceilings on private donations for deputy and mayor candidates
  • Allowing elected officials to keep titularidad of two offices at once (exercise is still framed as one office at a time in earlier coverage)
  • Longer windows for public officials who want to run to stay in their posts before separating to campaign

Infobae and TVN also place libre postulación signature thresholds and new-party formation rules among the contested Assembly edits. The TE reminded deputies that the original package came from the multi-sector Comisión Nacional de Reformas Electorales (CNRE) after 2024.

What came before

PanExpats already published the 23 September first-debate pass and the 27 September CCIAP/APEDE ask for a daylight second debate. This story is the TE's categorical rejection of specific Assembly edits, issued while deputies said second debate was stalled partly because magistrates had not appeared for discussion (TVN). Watch the plenary: text can still change.

Bottom line for expats

Treat this as an investment-climate and institutions story. Panama's pitch to long-stay residents and capital rides on predictable rules. A fight between the electoral court and the Assembly over money in campaigns, dual-office titularidad, and who can run outside big parties is worth following before 699 becomes law. It does not give foreign residents a vote.