News
Tuesday 10th September 2024.
September 9, 2024
Panama will toughen measures against countries that place the isthmus on discriminatory lists and will apply restrictions such as not giving them access to contracts or tenders and not supporting initiatives of those nations in international forums where the country has to vote.
This was stated by President José Raúl Mulino , who asked the new diplomatic team to make Panama’s voice heard abroad in rejection of its inclusion in various discriminatory lists that affect the country’s international image.
“ The country that has us on these lists will not have the right to anything in Panama, not even a vote in favor or contracts with the Nation, and much less to important tenders. They will not be there, just like that ,” said Mulino at the opening ceremony of the refresher course for new officials of the Panamanian foreign service.
The president announced that the rejection of Panama being included in these discriminatory lists is part of an international campaign that will begin with the speech he will give at the next United Nations (UN) assembly, where he will highlight the injustice committed against the country.
“We do not have the capacity to react like a foreign power, because we are not one. But we do have dignity and we will apply it as appropriate, where appropriate,” said Mulino.
The statement sent by the Presidency details that, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the position of the Panamanian Government has already been raised with the various embassies accredited in Panama that are involved in the preparation of these discriminatory lists.
“It is not true that we are friends, cooperators, a tremendous country, a great government on one side and criminals on the other. We are not and we reject it,” Mulino said.
The President said that although as a country we may have faults and problems, we should not be on lists and classifications like nations that are questioned internationally such as Iran or North Korea.
Panama is currently on the European Union’s list of high-risk countries for money laundering, along with Gibraltar, the United Arab Emirates, Barbados and Uganda.
Although the European Commission had proposed the exclusion of Panama, because it had previously been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, the European Parliament opposed it.
In October 2023, the country was excluded from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list after complying with a series of parameters and measures to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes.
In addition to the European Union list, Panama is classified as a partially compliant country in terms of tax information exchange, as classified by the Global Forum of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Linda Gesto , a personal friend of former President Ricardo Martinelli and one of those investigated in the Odebrecht case, appears on the National Assembly list.
According to the Legislative Body’s personnel registry, published on the digital portal of the Comptroller General of the Republic, Gesto holds the position of administrative assistant 1 , with a salary of $5,000 per month. She began work on August 1. In the world of Odebrecht bribery, Gesto was known by the pseudonym “Periquito 1.” She is one of the 49 people charged with alleged money laundering in this case; however, the former Third Liquidation Court of Criminal Cases requested her dismissal.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office investigation, at least $160,000 was transferred to Gesto, according to bank records mentioned in the prosecution hearing. She was one of four personal friends of Martinelli who received money from Odebrecht through companies such as Ample Power. André Rabello, former manager of the Brazilian construction company in Panama, told the prosecution that he opened accounts for the four women to transfer funds as “family support,” at Martinelli’s own request Odebrecht paid at least $150,000 to Úrsula Banz , “Periquito 2.” Banz also appeared on the National Assembly payroll. María Sol Rivera , or “Periquito 3,” also received $150,000, according to the prosecutors’ investigation. Odebrecht paid Aurora Muradas , “Periquito 4,” $85,000 for a piece of art purchased at the Habitante gallery; $36,000 for purchases at EuroBoutique; and at least $20,000 for jewelry at Cartier in Multiplaza. She also received at least $90,000 in wire transfers.
In an interview that Dana Castañeda , president of the Assembly, gave to EcoTV this Monday, September 9, she justified the appointments of advisors and others, with salaries of $5 thousand, including that of Gesto.
“The appointments that are made are guaranteed to work. The parties decide to appoint their advisors in the Assembly. If any of them is unable to work, I send them to be reviewed (…)”, he said.
Almost a month after the president, José Raúl Mulino, summoned the representatives and former representatives of the districts to present a report on the funds they received from the so-called “parallel decentralization” fund, few have been able to give an account.
To date, the National Decentralization Authority (AND) has received 38 reports from a total of 754 municipal councils and mayors in the country. This represents only 5%.
On August 15, Mulino had given a deadline of about 60 days to report in detail how the funds from the parallel item were spent, a controversial model that allowed the AND to authorize between 2019-2024 payments for more than $300 million, without oversight, to several communal councils, most of them aligned with the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) .
On Monday, September 9, the director of the AND, Roxana Méndez, held a meeting with the designated Comptroller General of the Republic, Anel Flores , to coordinate efforts with the objective of carrying out the task of reviewing the documentation related to accountability.
Flores announced that he will make available to the AND specialized human resources from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic for the review and analysis of the documentation presented by the councilors and mayors.
Judge Eduardo Valdés Escoffery confirmed this Monday, September 9, that the electoral reform table will be formally installed in January 2025.
The idea, he said, is that the package of changes to the Electoral Code will be presented to the National Assembly in 2026 for approval and sanction.
What would be the main reforms? For Valdés Escoffery, whose term ends on December 31, changes should be made to the current method of distributing seats, which is based on the quotient and remainder.
“Selective voting [for deputies] must be eliminated and a formula for distributing [seats] must be used that eliminates the issue of the quotient and remainder,” he said in an interview with the radio station Shok Multimedia .
That formula, he said, is known as D’Hondt , which is “a simple formula to apply” and has become popular in countries that have a multi-member circuit system such as Panama.
“You put in the votes of the parties, the number of seats and the system tells the order in which [the candidates] come out for each party or by independent nomination… they come out in the order in which they were placed on the previously agreed list,” he added.
Another issue that should be included, he added, is reducing the number of districts. He said that there are currently a little over 700 districts and in many there is “voter transfer”, which is nothing more than bringing people to vote in areas that do not correspond to them.
For the magistrate, it is not possible that the movement of 5 or 10 voters can decide an election. He explained that 50% of the districts have no more than 5 thousand people and there are others that have less than 200.
Valdés Escoffery indicated that another change that must be included in the electoral law is the method used to make the elections transparent: the use of a repository of minutes and the public control sheet for scrutiny.
“It is impossible to be more transparent with the system we have,” he said.
Former MP Juan Diego Vásquez , recognized as one of the main mentors of the independent coalition Vamos, spoke out on three issues that have captured public attention in recent days.
Vásquez questioned the interference of former President Ricardo Martinelli in national politics, despite being sheltered in the Nicaraguan embassy. He also highlighted the importance of the selection process for the new magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal. Finally, he addressed the crisis facing the Social Security Fund (CSS), pointing out the urgency of taking appropriate measures to guarantee the sustainability of the system and the well-being of the insured.
Vásquez was approached by La Prensa regarding the former president’s constant political interventions from the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama, where he is seeking asylum. His statement was clear: “What President Mulino’s [José Raúl] government should do with Martinelli, and with all Panamanians, including me, is to enforce the law. What is being done from the Nicaraguan embassy is violating the law,” he said.
According to the former deputy, Mulino has not been tough, authoritarian or firm enough to demand that someone comply with the law, but, in the case of his friend Martinelli, he is allowed to break it. “Either the law is complied with or the law is not complied with,” said Vásquez.
Martinelli is carrying out these actions in contradiction to what is established in the conventions that regulate the figure of asylum. The 1928 Convention on Asylum, one of those invoked by the Daniel Ortega regime to grant protection to the former president, establishes in its fifth article that “while asylum lasts, asylum seekers shall not be permitted to perform acts contrary to public tranquility.” Meanwhile, the 1954 Convention on Diplomatic Asylum reinforces this provision and adds: “The asylum-granting official shall not permit asylum seekers to perform acts contrary to public tranquility, nor to intervene in the internal politics of the territorial State.”
For the former deputy, the Electoral Court has experienced a “decline in credibility” in recent years, and as an arbitrator, he has many challenges ahead.
Regarding the appointment of Eduardo Valdés Escoffery’s replacement, the Vamos mentor said that a friend cannot be appointed to this new position, but rather someone serious, independent, knowledgeable about the law and who can act in accordance with the law. “He [Mulino] must appoint someone serious, independent and who can act autonomously,” he added.
As you may recall, the President of the Republic will be responsible for appointing the next magistrate of the Electoral Tribunal, who will replace Escoffery in office.
Regarding the crisis of the CSS Disability, Old Age and Death program, Vásquez said that the Vamos coalition has been meeting with experts on the subject for over a month, to obtain information and then adopt a position.