Chiriqui deputy Medin Jimenez has resigned from the Partido Panamenista, dealing a fresh blow to one of Panama’s traditional political parties. His departure comes in protest after the party’s legislative bloc helped derail an Electoral Tribunal proposal to redraw electoral circuits in his home province of Chiriqui.
What Happened
Jimenez, who represents circuit 4-4 in Chiriqui, told La Prensa that he submitted his resignation on Thursday, September 24, at 8:00 a.m. The decision followed the approval in third debate of bill 700, passed with 43 votes, which reconfigured the country’s electoral circuits — but left Chiriqui’s district map unchanged after Panamenista deputies moved to reject the changes for that province.
At the heart of the dispute was the Electoral Tribunal’s proposal to divide circuit 4-3, which currently groups the districts of Bugaba and Tierras Altas and elects two deputies. Under the tribunal’s plan, Bugaba would have formed its own circuit, while Tierras Altas would have been grouped with Renacimiento. Renacimiento, in turn, would have stopped sharing a circuit with Alanje and Boqueron. Each of the three resulting circuits would have elected a single deputy.
Jimenez said he could not accept that his own party declined to endorse the tribunal’s proposal. “I do not accept it and I cannot be complicit in my own party, for political interests, not approving what was proposed by the Tribunal,” he said.
Panamenista deputy Ariana Coba, together with a group of lawmakers, presented a counter-proposal to dismiss the change, and the current configuration ultimately remained in place.
Jimenez emphasized that his community has fought for the division of the circuit “for more than 20 years,” arguing that “the correct thing was for Tierras Altas to be with Renacimiento.”
Background
The Electoral Tribunal grounded its proposed changes in “territorial proximity,” communication routes and neighborhood ties among the affected districts. It also argued that Panama’s 2024 electoral roll, with 3,004,083 registered voters, requires more voters per circuit for the election of two deputies — a demographic justification for redrawing districts whose boundaries no longer reflect population realities.
Jimenez invoked the founding doctrine of the party he has now left, recalling that its first article speaks of patriotism: placing the interests of the people above personal and political interests. “I cannot go back to my people and have people say: ‘the Panamenistas killed the project,'” he said.
Jimenez is a veteran political figure in Chiriqui. He previously served three times as a district representative (corregimiento representative), as mayor of Renacimiento, and as president of the Provincial Council. Notably, he said he will not join another party: “I resigned, I have no intention of registering anywhere. I am a Panamenista by conviction,” he stated.
The party responded on Friday night with a statement saying it regretted the departure of Jimenez, whom it described as a former representative and mayor of Renacimiento. “Throughout our history we have faced the departure of important deputies and leaders. On each of those occasions, the Partido Panamenista has known how to rebuild its ranks, renew its leadership and recover those spaces with new figures committed to our principles,” the statement read.
What This Means for Panama
Jimenez’s resignation reduces the Panamenista bench in the National Assembly to seven deputies: Jose Luis Varela, Jorge Herrera, Ariana Coba, Francisco Brea, Ricardo Vigil, Roberto Archibold and Edwin Vergara. For a party that has historically been one of Panama’s political pillars, the loss of a seasoned Chiriqui legislator further shrinks its legislative footprint.
The episode also highlights the political sensitivity of the circuit reconfiguration approved under bill 700. While the Electoral Tribunal framed its proposal for Chiriqui in technical and demographic terms, the outcome shows how local interests and bloc politics can override institutional recommendations — a dynamic likely to fuel continued debate in affected communities such as Tierras Altas and Bugaba, where residents have sought redistricting for two decades.
Now sitting as an independent, Jimenez has ruled out affiliating with another party. His departure raises questions about how the Panamenista organization will rebuild in Chiriqui, a province with significant electoral weight, ahead of future electoral contests.
This story was originally reported by La Prensa.