Original: Spanish
The Socialist International Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean, meeting in Montevideo on 17-18 May 2018:
Reiterate its interest in the fight against corruption and impunity in Panama. The Committee warns against the worrying and progressive judicialisation of politics in the country and the risk that the judicial power and public ministry may become politicised and involved in the political affairs of the country.
The phenomenon of judicialisation of politics represents a threat to the consolidation of Panamanian democracy, because some judges and prosecutors become actors that are able to have an impact on the direction of politics and to intimidate the leaders of the opposition.
The Committee calls the operators of justice and the Comptroller General of the Republic to safeguard the independence and objectivity in their actions, on the political parties to deepen the reforms that will consolidate the democratic system, and on the Panamanian society to remain vigilant against the threats to the institutions of democracy.
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