ABSTRACT
In 1964 the various organizations representing private-sector interests, under the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce, the Sindicato de Industrials, and the Asociacion Panamena de Ejecutivos de Empresa, formed the Consejo Nacional de la Empresa Privada. The aim was to create a powerful lobby group or a ministry without portfolio to be consulted by the government prior to the enactment of laws that would affect the interests of the private sector. During the Colombian period, Panamanians participated in the politics of that country in various ways. From independence until around 1912, the Colombian Partido Liberal and Partido Conservador continued to hold forth in Panama's political arena. Throughout Panama's political history, this has been a source of much tension and political instability. The country's social and economic situation increased in complexity and could not be accommodated with the old and tried formulas that the traditional ruling elite had used up to then.
