Law that creates new townships in Bocas del Toro is enacted
Law 172 of October 19, 2020, which modifies Law 1 of 1982, modified by Law 39 of 2015 that created the district of Almirante, already appears in the Official Gazette; in which new townships are segregated and established in the province of Bocas del Toro.
This law establishes as new townships those of Bocas del Toro Oeste and Isla San Cristóbal in the district of Bocas del Toro; Finca 66, Finca 4, Finca 51, La Mesa and Barranco Adentro in the district of Changuinola and Miraflores, Bajo Culubre and Ceiba in the district of Almirante.
And the Cauchero district is transferred from the Bocas del Toro district to the Almirante district.
In addition, the townships: Barriada 4 de abril, Finca 30, Finca 6 and Finca 60, are segregated from the township of Changuinola; and the El Silencio district, segregated from the El Empalme district in the province of Bocas del Toro.
This law was proposed in the National Assembly by deputies Benicio Robinson, Jaime Vargas, Crispiano Adames, Nestor Guardia, Marcos Castillero and Ricardo Torres.
Faced with these new changes, the Electoral Court must carry out a comprehensive reorganization of the province's electoral roll to guarantee that voters residing in the district of Almirante, as well as in the new townships, are assigned in a timely manner to the voting centers that are assigned to them. correspond.
This law was widely discussed in the country and generated much criticism, given that the creation of the corregimientos is seen as a practice that seeks to generate political patronage and maintain roots in popularly elected positions.
Given this, the former magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal (TE), Guillermo Márquez Amado, said that the initiatives presented by several deputies of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) for the creation of new townships are an additional sign that we need to modify the Constitution.
From 1994 to now there has been an unbridled growth of electoral constituencies such as those known as corregimientos, and they have been based on the interests of the deputies. When the deputies run for candidates the campaign is carried out together with representatives of the corregimientos, to the extent that a district has more corregimientos, the more support the deputies feel they may have, said Márquez about these proposals.
The deputies of the PRD, Petita Ayarza and Kayra Harding, have also presented bills that create new townships, in the Guna Yala and Panama Oeste region respectively; and they expect to be sanctioned.
And the Cauchero district is transferred from the Bocas del Toro district to the Almirante district.
In addition, the townships: Barriada 4 de abril, Finca 30, Finca 6 and Finca 60, are segregated from the township of Changuinola; and the El Silencio district, segregated from the El Empalme district in the province of Bocas del Toro.
This law was proposed in the National Assembly by deputies Benicio Robinson, Jaime Vargas, Crispiano Adames, Nestor Guardia, Marcos Castillero and Ricardo Torres.
Faced with these new changes, the Electoral Court must carry out a comprehensive reorganization of the province's electoral roll to guarantee that voters residing in the district of Almirante, as well as in the new townships, are assigned in a timely manner to the voting centers that are assigned to them. correspond.
This law was widely discussed in the country and generated much criticism, given that the creation of the corregimientos is seen as a practice that seeks to generate political patronage and maintain roots in popularly elected positions.
Given this, the former magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal (TE), Guillermo Márquez Amado, said that the initiatives presented by several deputies of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) for the creation of new townships are an additional sign that we need to modify the Constitution.
From 1994 to now there has been an unbridled growth of electoral constituencies such as those known as corregimientos, and they have been based on the interests of the deputies. When the deputies run for candidates the campaign is carried out together with representatives of the corregimientos, to the extent that a district has more corregimientos, the more support the deputies feel they may have, said Márquez about these proposals.
The deputies of the PRD, Petita Ayarza and Kayra Harding, have also presented bills that create new townships, in the Guna Yala and Panama Oeste region respectively; and they expect to be sanctioned.