Panama 1972 Constitution (reviewed 2004)

TITLE VI. THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Chapter 1. The President and Vice Presidents of the Republic

Article 175

The Executive Branch is composed of the President of the Republic and the Ministers of State, according to the provisions of this Constitution.

Article 176

The President of the Republic exercises his/her powers alone, or with the participation of the respective Minister, or with all of the Ministers in the Cabinet Council, or in any other way determined by this Constitution.

Article 177

The President of the Republic shall be elected in a popular direct election by a majority of votes for a term of five years. Together with the President there shall be elected, in the same manner and for the same term, a Vice-President who shall replace the President during his or her absence in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

Article 178

The citizen who has been elected President or Vice-President of the Republic may not be elected for the same office in the two Presidential terms immediately following.

Article 179

In order to be eligible as President or Vice-President of the Republic, it is necessary:

1. To be Panamanian by birth;
2. To have reached thirty-five years of age.

Article 180

Nobody who has been sentenced by enforceable decision of a court of law to prison for five or more years for a premeditated offense may be elected President or Vice-President of the Republic.

Article 181

The President and the Vice-President of the Republic shall take office before the National Assembly on the first day of July following the elections and shall take the oath of office in these words: “I swear to God and to the Country to comply faithfully with the Constitution and the laws of the Republic.”

A citizen who professes no religious belief may dispense with the invocation to God in the oath.

Article 182

If for any reason the President or the Vice-President of the Republic cannot take office before the National Assembly, they shall do so before the Supreme Court of Justice; if this is not possible, before a Notary-Public, failing this, before two competent witnesses.

Article 183

The President of the Republic may exercise the following functions by himself/herself:

1. To appoint and remove freely the Ministers of State;
2. To coordinate the work of the Administration and Public establishments;
3. To supervise the preservation of public order;
4. To adopt the means necessary for the National Assembly to meet on the day designated by this Constitution, or by a Decree convoking the Assembly to extraordinary sessions;
5. To submit, at the beginning of each Legislature in the first day of ordinary sessions, a message relative to the affairs of the Administration;
6. To veto bills that he/she considers to be improper or unconstitutional;
7. To invalidate orders or provisions issued by a Minister of State according to Article 186;
8. To exercise all other powers granted him/her by this Constitution or by law.

Article 184

The following functions shall be exercised by the President of the Republic with the participation of the respective Minister:

1. To approve and promulgate the Laws, obey them and to see that they are faithfully executed;
2. To appoint and remove the Directors and further members of the police services and to make use of this service;
3. To appoint and freely remove the Governors of the Provinces;
4. To inform the Legislative Branch of the vacancies produced in the offices which the latter must fulfill;
5. To supervise the collection and administration of the national revenues;
6. To appoint, in accordance with the provisions of Title XI, the persons who are to hold national offices or positions, whose provision does not correspond to other office or entity;
7. To send to the Legislative Branch, within the first month of the first annual session, the draft of the General Budget, unless the date of his/her inauguration coincides with the beginning of the said session. In this case, the President of the Republic shall accomplish this task within the first forty days of the same session;
8. To enter into administrative contracts for the performance of services and the execution of public works, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and the Law;
9. To direct foreign relations, to negotiate Treaties and international Agreements, which shall be submitted to the consideration of the Legislative Branch and authorize and to assign and receive diplomatic and consular agents;
10. To direct, regulate and inspect services in accordance with the provisions established in this Constitution;
11. To appoint the Chiefs, Managers and Directors of autonomous, semi-autonomous public entities and States’ entities, as provided by the respective Laws;
12. To decree pardons for political offenses, reduce penalties and grant conditional freedom to common crimes convicts;
13. To grant promotions to members of the police service pursuant to the roster and the corresponding legal provisions;
14. To regulate the Laws requiring it for its better compliance, without deviating, in any case, from its text nor from the spirit thereof;
15. To grant to nationals requesting it, permit to accept positions in foreign governments, in the case where it is necessary in accordance with the Law;
16. To exercise the other functions granted by this Constitution and by Law.

Article 185

Powers exercised by the Vice-President of the Republic are:

1. To take the place of the President of the Republic in his/her temporary absence;
2. To participate with the right to speak, but not to vote in Cabinet Council meetings;
3. To advise the President of the Republic on matters determined by the latter;
4. To assist and represent the President of the Republic in public acts and national or international congresses, or on special missions assigned by the President.

Article 186

No acts of the President of the Republic, except those which may be exercised by him/her alone, will have any validity or effect, unless countersigned by the respective Minister of State, who by this action renders himself responsible thereof.

Orders and resolutions that a Minister of State issues on the instructions of the President of the Republic, are obligatory, and shall only be invalidated by the latter when they are against the Constitution or law, without prejudice to legal remedies.

Article 187

The President and Vice-President of the Republic may be absent from their offices with permission granted by the Cabinet Council for a period not exceeding ninety days. For an absence of more than ninety days permission is required from the National Assembly.

During a President’s leave of absence the Vice-President shall take his/her place and shall have the title of Acting President.

When for any reason the Vice-President cannot fulfill the duties of the absent President, the functions of President shall be discharged by one of the Minister of State shall be elected by the latter through majority vote; he/she must be qualified to become President and shall be called the Minister Acting as President of the Republic.

In the delays defined in this and the following Articles holidays shall be included.

Article 188

The President of the Republic may be absent from the national territory, on each occasion, without having to ask for leave from office:

1. For a period up to ten days without need for any authorization at all;
2. For a period exceeding ten but not thirty days with authorization from the Cabinet Council;
3. For a period exceeding thirty days as authorized with authorization from the National Assembly.

If the President is absent for more than ten days, the First Vice-President shall take charge of the presidential functions; in the absence of the latter, a Minister of State shall take over, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Whoever takes charge shall be called Acting President of the Republic.

Article 189

In the case of permanent absence of the President of the Republic, the Vice-President will take over the presidential functions for the rest of the remaining term.

When the Vice-President assumes the office of President, one of the Ministers of State who must have the necessary qualifications for Vice-President and shall be elected by their majority vote shall take over the Vice-Presidency.

When for any reason the permanent absence of the President cannot be filled by the Vice-President, one of the Ministers of State who must have the necessary qualifications for President shall assume the office after having been elected by majority vote of the others. He/she shall be called Minister Acting as President of the Republic.

When the permanent absence of the President and Vice-President occurs at least two years before the expiration of the presidential term, the Minister Acting as President shall call an election for President and Vice-President within four months, in a manner that allows those elected to assume their functions for the rest of the remaining term within six months after the election has been called. The relevant decree shall be issued no later than eight days after the Minister Acting as President has taken office.

Article 190

Emoluments assigned by law to the President and Vice-Presidents of the Republic may be modified, but the change shall enter into force in the following Presidential term.

Article 191

The President and the Vice-President of the Republic are responsible only in the following cases:

1. For exceeding their constitutional powers;
2. For acts of violence or coercion during the electoral process; for impeding the meeting of the National Assembly, for blocking the exercise of its functions or of the functions of the other public organizations or authorities that are established by this Constitution;
3. For offenses against the international personality of the State or against the public administration.

In the first and second case, the penalty shall be removal from office, and disqualification to hold public office for a period fixed by law. In the third case ordinary law shall apply.

Article 192

There may not be elected President of the Republic:

1. A citizen who, called to exercise the Presidency because of permanent absence of the President, has held the position at any time during the three years immediately preceding the term for which the election is held;
2. Relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of marital relations of a President of the Republic who has held office in the term immediately preceding, or such relatives of the citizen referred to in numeral 1 of this Article.

Article 193

The following persons may not be elected Vice-Presidents of the Republic:

1. The President of the Republic currently serving his/her term of office when the election for Vice-President of the Republic is for the term immediately following said term;
2. Relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or the second degree of marital relations of the President of the Republic, for the term following that in which said President has held office;
3. A citizen who, as Vice-President of the Republic, has held the Presidency in a permanent manner at any time during the three years preceding the term for which the election is being held;
4. Relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of marital relations of the citizen mentioned in the preceding section, for the term immediately following that in which that citizen has held the Presidency of the Republic;
5. Relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or the second degree of marital relations of the President of the Republic.

Chapter 2. The Ministers of State

Article 194

The Ministers of State are Chiefs of their respective branches and cooperate with the President of the Republic in the exercise of their functions in accordance with this Constitution and the law.

Article 195

The distribution of the business of State according to its affinities, among the Ministers of State will be effected in accordance with Law.

Article 196

Ministers of State must be Panamanian by birth, must have reached twenty-five years of age and must not have been sentenced to a prison term of five or more years for a premeditated offense by enforceable decision of a court of law.

Article 197

No person may be appointed Minister of State who is a relative of the President of the Republic within the fourth degree of consanguinity or the second degree of marital relations, or by person of those relationships be members of the same Cabinet Council.

Article 198

Each Minister of State shall personally submit to the National Assembly an annual report or statement concerning the state of affairs of his/her Ministry and such reforms as he/she may deem expedient to introduce.

Chapter 3. The Cabinet Council

Article 199

The Cabinet Council is the meeting of the President of the Republic, who shall chair it, or of the Acting President with the Vice-President of the Republic and the Ministers of State.

Article 200

The Cabinet Council has the following functions:

1. To act as an advisory body in matters submitted to it by the President of the Republic, and in those matters in which it has to heard by virtue of the Constitution or the law;
2. To approve, with the President of the Republic, appointments of Justices of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Nation, the Solicitor General of the Administration, and their alternates, subject to the approval of the National Assembly;
3. To approve the execution of contracts, the negotiation of loans and the transfer of personal or real national property in the manner prescribed by law;
4. To approve jointly with the President the transfer or submission by the latter of disputes to which the State is a party to arbitration; this requires the favorable opinion of the Attorney General of the Nation. This provision does not apply to arbitration conventions which the State has joined by contractual agreement; they are self-executing;
5. To issue a decree, under the joint responsibility of all its members, declaring a State of Emergency, and the suspension of pertinent Constitutional guarantees, in accordance with Article 51 of this Constitution;
6. To request from public officials, government entities and mixed enterprises, those reports deemed necessary or appropriate for the dispatch of affairs it must consider, and to summon said officials and representatives of said entities and enterprises, to give oral reports;
7. To negotiate and contract, loans, organize public credit, to acknowledge the National Debt and arrange for its servicing, to set and modify tariffs, rates, and the other provisions concerning Custom Regulations, subject to the standards set by law, in accordance with numeral 11 of Article 153 of this Constitution. Whereas the Legislative Branch has not issued a law or laws that contain the corresponding general norms, the Executive Branch may exercise these powers and will send to the Legislative Branch, copies of all the Decrees issued in exercise of this power;
8. To issue regulations for its internal government and to exercise the rest of its functions as established by this Constitution, or by law.

Chapter 4. The General Council of State

[repealed]