Camaron Legislativo

After the concession process between PSA and the State, the contract was signed on October 28, 2014 by the former director of the Maritime Authority of Panama (AMP), Roberto Linares, and PSA Panama International Terminal’s former legal representative, Robert Ahern. It was approved by the Assembly on January 28, 2015. The construction of the container terminal in Rodman would have the capacity to move close to 2 million TEUs when it is completed, which will greatly benefit Canal operations.

The contract signed between the AMP and PSA Panama International Terminal, was sanctioned on February 10 of that year by President Juan Carlos Varela, becoming Law 2 of 2015.

On April 18, 2018, the deputy of the Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD), Roberto Ayala, proposed to introduce in Draft Bill 53 an article that requested to repeal Law 2 of February 10, 2015. The same article was introduced during the second debate of Draft Bill 53, which prohibits the opening of shops selling liquor in residential areas.

The original project, didn’t make any reference to PSA, and the deputy Ayala, during the debate, proposed a motion to omit the entire reading of the amendment made to Law 53.

Later, it was announced that deputy Ayala included a "camaron legislativo" or rider legislation that repealed Law 2 of February 10, 2015.

Secretary General of the Assembly Franz Wever, was in charge of reading the proposal to repeal Law 2 of February 10, 2015, which approves the law contract for the construction and operation of a container terminal in Rodman. He did it in the following way:

The national media La Prensa described the reading as "fast and unintelligible" and indicated that Wever "immediately turned the page and continued with other proposals for reforms."

After this reading of the proposal, on April 19, the project entered the agenda for its third and final debate. On this occasion, the deputy Roberto Ayala proposed for the second time a motion to omit the entire reading of project 53.

Subsequently, the Undersecretary of the National Assembly, Anelis Bernal read a brief report of the Commission of Correction and Style. She mentioned that the project underwent three modifications, and two new articles were added. It should be noted that the content of the modifications wasn’t read.

The deputy and vice-president of the National Assembly, Leandro Ávila, declared in TVN's "Radar" program, that the articles that were repealed were not clearly read, and that the deputies "didn’t understand what the matter was about". At the same time, the former deputy Teresita Yániz de Arias, in the same program, argued that it was wrong not to read the article that repealed the law, since "it was not about nullifying another article, but a contract between the State and a private company."

Different public authorities and figures said that the rider legislation risked the country's logistic platform and legal security. Among them, the former Minister of Economy and Finance, Dulcidio De La Guardia, called the approval of Bill 53 "irresponsible" and the Minister of the AMP, Jorge Barakat said that the camaron legislativo "undermines the economy of the State."

The deputy Iván Picota informed that he would ask the President to veto the article and that an investigation on the matter will be needed.

In parallel, some lawyers filed complaints about improper handling in the process of approving a law. The lawyer Ernesto Cedeño filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) against Deputy Roberto Ayala for including in bill 53, a "camaron legislativo". He considered that "Ayala violated the Political Constitution", by creating a vice in the processing of the bill. Cedeño stated "Article 18 of the Political Constitution was violated by the deputy. They must investigate the bank accounts of the deputies to see how they are enriched."

Deputy Roberto Ayala was denounced before the Commission of Credentials, Regulation, Parliamentary Ethics and Judicial Affairs by Juan Diego Vásquez, member of the National Youth Network for Transparency.

As a result of the events that occurred, the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) bench said it will analyze what kind of sanctions it will bring to the deputy Roberto Ayala. The Party is aware that the deputy Ayala was involved in the scandal for irregular contracts and donations of the National Assembly and that in February of this year, only attended once to the plenary.

The president of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela, vetoed as "inconvenient and unconstitutional" the bill 53 that ended, in an irregular way, the contract law authorizing the construction of a port in Rodman by the company PSA Panama International Terminal SA, and which approved the construction of the container terminal of the company PSA Panama International Terminal in Rodman.

In conclusion, this rider legislation was an action against the National Assembly’s regulations, since Article 148 of the Internal Rules of the Assembly, which is the law of the Republic, indicates that the deputies can propose new articles and modifications to a Bill "as long as these do not deal with matters foreign to the bill."

The Bill 53 regulates the establishment of commercial premises in residential areas, while the article introduced in that bill by deputy Ayala is about the repeal of a port contract, which has nothing to do with the original project.