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Panama THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
In 1987 Panama was governed under the Constitution of 1972 as
amended by the Reform Acts of 1978 and the Constitutional Act of
1983. This was Panama's fourth constitution, previous constitutions
having been adopted in 1904, 1941, and 1946. The differences among
these constitutions have been matters of emphasis and have
reflected the political circumstances existing at the time of their
formulation.
The 1904 constitution, in Article 136, gave the United States
the right to "intervene in any part of Panama, to reestablish
public peace and constitutional order." Reflecting provisions of
the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, this confirmed Panama's status as a
de facto protectorate of the United States
(see The United States Protectorate
, ch. 1). Article 136, along with other provisions of
the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, such as that giving the United States
the right to add additional territory to the Canal Zone whenever it
believed this was necessary for defensive purposes, rankled
Panamanian nationalists for more than three decades.
In 1939 the United States abrogated its right of intervention
in internal Panamanian affairs with the ratification of the HullAlfaro Treaty. The 1941 constitution, enacted during Arnulfo
Arias's first, brief presidential term, not only ended Panama's
constitutionally mandated protectorate status, but also reflected
the president's peculiar political views
(see The War Years
, ch.
1). Power was concentrated in the hands of the president whose
term, along with that of members of the legislature, was extended
from four to six years. Citizenship requirements were added that
discriminated against the nation's English-speaking black community
and other non-Hispanic minorities
(see Ethnic Groups
, ch. 2).
In October 1941, President Arias was deposed by the National
Police (the predecessor of the National Guard and FDP), and the
presidency was assumed by Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia. In 1946
President de la Guardia promulgated a new constitution, which was
basically a return to the 1904 document without the offensive
Article 136. The 1946 constitution lasted for twenty-six years.
Following the 1968 military coup, eleven constitutional guarantees,
including freedom of speech, press, and travel, were suspended for
several months, and some were not restored fully until after the
adoption of the 1972 Constitution. The 1972 Constitution was
promulgated by General Torrijos and reflected the dominance of the
political system by the general and the military
(see The Government of Torrijos and the National Guard
, ch. 1).
Article 277 of the 1972 Constitution designated Torrijos as the
"Maximum Leader of the Panamanian Revolution," granting him
extraordinary powers for a period of six years, including the power
to appoint most government officials and to direct foreign
relations. On October 11, 1978, this and other temporary provisions
of the 1972 Constitution expired, and a series of amendments,
ratified by the Torrijos-controlled National Assembly of Municipal
Representatives, became law. These amendments called for a gradual
return to democratic political processes between 1978 and 1984 and
were designed, in part, to assuage United States concerns over the
undemocratic nature of the Panamanian political system
(see
Torrijos Government Undertakes "Democratization", ch. 1).
In 1983 a commission representing various political parties was
created to amend further the Constitution in preparation for the
1984 elections. The sixteen-member commission changed nearly half
of the Constitution's articles, producing several significant
alterations. Article 2 had given the military a special political
role, but all mention of this was omitted in the revised draft. The
legislature was also revamped. The National Legislative Council was
eliminated, and the unwieldy, government-controlled National
Assembly of Municipal Representatives, which had 505
representatives, one from each corregimiento (municipal
subdistrict), became the Legislative Assembly, with 67 members
apportioned on the basis of population and directly elected. The
independence of the judiciary and the Electoral Tribunal were
strengthened, the term of the president was reduced to five years,
and two vice presidents were to be elected. Guarantees of civil
liberties were strengthened, and official support for candidates in
elections was, at least in theory, severely restricted.
The amended Constitution contains 312 articles. Power emanates
from the people and is exercised by the three branches of
government, each of which is "limited and separate," but all of
which, in theory, work together in "harmonious collaboration." The
national territory is defined as "the land area, the territorial
sea, the submarine continental shelf, the subsoil, and air space
between Costa Rica and Colombia." Any ceding, leasing, or other
alienation of this territory to any other state is expressly
forbidden. Spanish is the country's national language.
Citizenship may be acquired by birth or naturalization.
Articles 17 through 50 guarantee a broad range of individual
rights, including property rights, but Article 51 gives the
president power to suspend many of these by declaring a "state of
emergency." Articles 52 through 124 establish the role of the state
in protecting the family, regulating labor conditions, promoting
education and culture, providing assistance for health and other
areas of social security, promoting agriculture, and protecting the
environment.
After the elaboration of the composition, powers, and duties of
the various organs of the governmental system, the Constitution
ends with descriptions of the state's responsibilities with respect
to the national economy, public administration, and national
security. Engaging in economic activities, for example, is
primarily the function of private individuals, but the state will
"orient, direct, regulate, replace, or create according to social
necessities . . . with the object of increasing national
wealth and to ensure its benefits for the largest possible number
of the nation's inhabitants." Article 308 provides for amending the
Constitution, either through approval of amendments without
modification by an absolute majority of two successive elected
assemblies or approval with modifications by two assemblies and
subsequent ratification of the modified text by a national
referendum.
Panama's successive constitutions have been respected in
varying degrees by the republic's governments. Since the 1968 coup,
opponents of various governments have accused them of violating the
spirit and, at times, the letter of the Constitution and of
invoking the state of emergency provisions for purely political
purposes. Creating public confidence in the rule of law established
by the Constitution presented the government with one of its major
challenges in the late 1980s.
Data as of December 1987
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