The Panamanian Association of Business Executives (Apede) decided to firmly support a lawsuit before the Supreme Court of Justice aimed at stopping the automatic permanence of officials in the National Assembly, a practice that—according to the guild—undermines the principle of merit and weakens the rule of law. Apede filed a third-party brief to support the legal action promoted by the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Liberty, which questions several articles of Law 429 of April 2024. The business guild argues that the questioned norm breaks with the constitutional principles that regulate access and stability in public careers. The law allows officials to obtain automatic permanence after two years of seniority, without competitions or evaluations, a practice that—according to APEDE—empties the merit system of its content. The legal action was prepared by the constitutional lawyer Jorge Giannareas, within the framework of the lawsuit presented by the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Liberty. The guild's brief also questions that Law 429 eliminated the Legislative Career Council without creating an alternative control mechanism. The discussion is not technical or distant: it directly touches on how one enters and remains in the State.
