Intimacies of the “Pact”

Monitor

El Panamá América

Sunday, October 24, 1999

Intimacies of the “Pact”

by: news desk

On August 20, 1999, negotiators and legislators from the aísles of Unión por Panamá, Partido Solidaridad, Cambio Democrático, MOLIRENA and MORENA met in La Pintada, Penonomé,

As indicated by the Governability Pact or Legislative and Governability Agreement, better known as La Pintada Pact, its negotiators were: George Weeden, Winston Spadafora and José Manuel Terán, for the Arnulfista Party or Union for Panamá; Rubén Arosemena, Juan Carlos Varela y Carlos Santana, for Acción Opositora and, Enrique Lao, for the Solidarity Party, despite the fact that on his behalf the document is signed by the Honorable Legislator Noriel Salerno. All other negotiators signed on their own behalf.

Dated August 20, 1999, said pact points out in handwriting how the Commissions’ Board of Directors would be formed, as well as who would be the republic’s comptroller and deputy comptroller, including the province of Coclé’s governor, at whose house the “pact” took place.

The document specifies by name the first president and second vice-president of the Legislative Assembly as well as AEW –initials that correspond to Alvin Edwin Weeden– as comptroller general, Dr. Lao as deputy comptroller general, engineer Richard Fifer-Carles as governor and “Tito” Álvarez as deputy governor.

In addition to what has already been pointed out, there is a handwritten chart where the way in which the boards of directors in the Legislative Assembly, the Commissions on Budget, Credentials, Comptroller General and Deputy Comptroller General will be assigned for the next five years. The chart is then typed, doing the same for the different commissions for the Legislative Assembly, titling them as Legislative Agreements and Agreement on the Assembly’s commissions, respectively.

The La Pintada Pact appeared on September 23, 1999.