Edison Augusto Broce Urriola (born November 1, 1990) is a

Panamanian Panamanians (Spanish: ''Panameños'') are people identified with Panama, a transcontinental country in Central America (a region within North America) and South America, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For mo ...

independent politician An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

, lawyer, and environmental advocate serving as a

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the

National Assembly of Panama The National Assembly of Panama ( es, Asamblea Nacional de Panamá), formerly the Legislative Assembly of Panama ''(Asamblea Legislativa de Panamá)'', is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Panama. It is a unicameral le ...

for the 2019-2024 legislative term. He is one of the youngest Panamanian lawmakers and is widely known for his environmental policies and raising awareness about

plastic pollution Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...

. Since July 1, 2020, he is the Head of the Independent Caucus of the National Assembly of Panama.

Education

He began his law studies at the

University of Panama The University of Panama ( es, Universidad de Panamá) was founded on October 7, 1935. Initially, it had 175 students learning education, commerce, natural sciences, pharmacy, pre-engineering or law. , it had 74,059 students distributed in 228 b ...

and graduated ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from

Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua Santa María La Antigua Catholic University ( es, Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua, USMA) is a private university in Panama City, Panama. It was established in 1965 as the first private university in Panama. As of 2021, it had 5,879 ...

, where he also obtained a master's degree in

procedural law Procedural law, adjective law, in some jurisdictions referred to as remedial law, or rules of court, comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil, lawsuit, criminal or administrative proceedings. The rules are ...

, completing his thesis in Environmental Law graduating summa cum laude. He founded the university's first environmental group and was on the team that won the Panamanian national round of the

Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, also known as the Jessup Moot or The Jessup, is the oldest and largest international moot competition in the world, attracting participants from almost 700 law schools in more than 90 ...

in 2013. In 2015, he was awarded the

Chevening Scholarship The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship, funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, that lets foreign students with leadership qualities study at universities in the United Kingdom. History The Chevening Scholarship ...

to pursue a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. In 2017 he was recognized by the

Junior Chamber International Junior Chamber International, commonly referred to as JCI, is a non-profit international non-governmental organization of young people between and years old. It has members in about 124 countries, and regional or national organizations in mo ...

in their field ''"Political, Legal and/or Governmental Affairs"''. He also served as the first president in U.S. Embassy

Youth Advisory Council {{distinguish, Advisory Council on Youth, Northumberland Youth Advisory Council A Youth Advisory Council is a body of young people appointed by one or more governmental officials, institutions, or organizations to advise on issues of public policy ...

, where he founded ''Eco Exito'', a community based recycling project, which grew into an independent

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

. Broce is a member of the

International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief The International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB) is a network of parliamentarians from around the world committed to combating religious persecution and advancing freedom of religion or belief, as defined by ...

. Within this network, he has participated in parliamentary duties nationally and internationally.

Political career

From 2014 to 2019, he served in the National Assembly of Panama as an alternate member. In the general elections of Panama in 2019, he was elected as a deputy before the National Assembly by circuit 8-8. Together with his independent colleagues elected in 2019, he renounced the privileges enjoyed by parliamentarians, such as exemption from import tax of cars, use of public funds, postal and telephone franchise, donations, items, appointments, or any structure or opaque management of public affairs. They also formed the first independent caucus in the history of the Republic of Panama.

Legislative work

The pillars of his agenda have been education, environment and well-being. His initiatives include the first recycling law of the Republic of Panama, for whose work in 2020 British Vogue recognized him as a notable leader, and the Law 187 of December 2, 2020 "that regulates the reduction and progressive replacement of single-use plastics." He was the proponent of Law 32 of March 17, 2020, on reducing the use of paper in public administration; a rule of common sense, which with simple measures aims to control the massive consumption of sheets of paper by the State, to train public servants in good environmental practices and to include sanctions in the internal regulations of government entities for those who fail to comply with the provisions of the law. In addition, in 2022 he achieved the approval of Law 295 of April 25, 2022, on electric mobility in the Republic of Panama. He was the proponent of Law 223 of June 8, 2021, on Environmental Incentives in the Republic of Panama, by which tax exemptions and incentives were established as of the year 2022 to promote sustainable business practices, the reconversion of companies, and the development of the recycling industry in Panama. In 2019, he asked the floor of the National Assembly of Panama to create an Investigation Commission on deforestation in the province of Darién, in which more than 21 thousand hectares of forests have been deforested in the last seven years. After the creation of the commission was approved, he was elected President of the commission and held numerous sessions and hearings with high-ranked public servants, such as the Minister of the Environment and the administrator of the National Land Administration Authority. However, the field investigations phase has had to be suspended due to the setbacks generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. He is currently the President of the Education, Culture, Science, Technology and Communication Commission of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (PARLATINO).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broce, Edison Panamanian politicians 1990 births Living people