What Happened
A new confrontation between the Vamos caucus and Panama’s Comptroller General escalated in the National Assembly after lawmakers denounced the placement of several legislative employees on unpaid leave and the suspension of their salaries.
Independent deputies said the measure amounted to retaliation by Comptroller General Anel Flores, coming as lawmakers began second debate on Bill 443, which would require all gasoline sold in the country to contain 10% bioethanol.
The dispute sharpened during a midday press conference and then moved to the Assembly floor, where Vamos deputy Roberto Zúñiga accused the Comptroller’s Office of abandoning its oversight role and using its authority to pressure lawmakers.
Zúñiga said the institution had become a tool of coercion and compared it to security and intelligence bodies from Panama’s past, framing the salary suspension as political punishment tied to the bioethanol debate.
Lawmakers Trade Accusations
Zúñiga urged Flores to reverse the decision, saying it affected nearly 40 workers. He argued that the action was especially serious because it took place during a debate on a major policy issue with direct economic implications for consumers and fuel distributors.
Carlos “Tito” Afú, of Cambio Democrático, pushed back on the opposition narrative and said the press conference had been confusing, noting that it was unclear how many people were affected. He said the situation should not be treated as a conspiracy or an effort to intimidate anyone, but as an administrative matter that reaches staff in different legislative offices.
Afú added that temporary and transitory employees are subject to oversight and budget limits. He called on critics to lower the tone of the dispute and said workers who meet their schedules and are not “ghost employees” can receive payment when the budget allows.
Later in the afternoon, PRD deputy Benicio Robinson also weighed in, mocking Vamos for complaining about staff in the Assembly after frequently criticizing other parties over payrolls. He said the opposition was attacking the comptroller for doing his job and asked for respect after the earlier exchanges.
Comptroller’s Response
The Comptroller’s Office rejected the accusations of political interference but acknowledged that it had suspended payments to certain Assembly employees. It said the action was based on its duty to verify that salaries correspond to actual work performed and to enforce controls on attendance and punctuality.
The institution also said it had consulted the Procuraduría de la Administración about exemptions from clocking in at the National Assembly. According to the reply it cited, only the acting president and the secretary general, separately, may exempt workers from mandatory attendance registration under Article 161 of the Assembly’s human resources regulations.
The Comptroller’s Office said it found that rule had not been followed in some cases.
Why It Matters
The confrontation exposes a broader struggle over oversight, payroll control and political power inside Panama’s public institutions. Bill 443 has already become a sensitive issue because it touches fuel policy and consumer costs, and the dispute over unpaid leave has now turned that debate into a wider institutional conflict.
The episode also comes amid heightened scrutiny of the Comptroller’s Office after Flores visited the offices of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office alongside Deputy Comptroller Omar Castillo and other officials. That visit was tied to interviews with auditors involved in the investigation of former vice president José Gabriel “Gaby” Carrizo for alleged unjustified enrichment.
For now, the dispute has widened into a test of how far Panama’s oversight bodies can go in policing payroll practices inside the Assembly without being seen as crossing into political pressure.