"I have appointed myself international representative of the Panamanian opposition, and I am going to charter a plane and use every penny at my disposal."

A Panamanian opposition once rooted in a narrow elite has been reinforced by students and workers.

LEAD: Congressmen and the Panamanian opposition criticized a proposal to drop drug charges against the general if he leaves power.

However, increased sovereignty was not enough to stem the growing wave of Panamanian opposition to US occupation.

Leaders of the Panamanian political opposition made no direct comment on the new laws.

First there should be a dialogue with the Panamanian opposition, and a date set for elections; then he would resign as military commander.

Efforts last year to establish a multinational counternarcotics center failed in the wake of Panamanian opposition to having American troops on their soil.

The Panamanian opposition said the general's appointment as chief executive was another effort to perpetuate his dictatorship and made democracy an even more distant dream.

Then, bowing to the wishes of the Panamanian political opposition, the United States said they would be kept on American bases.

A lifelong politician, he has not joined the Panamanian opposition and today called himself a principal leader of the Government-allied Democratic Revolutionary Party.