News
Tuesday 5th April 2022.
April 5, 2022
The epidemiological report of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) on Monday, highlighted that in the last 24 hours two deaths from Covid-19 were reported among patients who did not have their complete vaccination schedule. Due to these two deaths in the country there is a cumulative total of 8,172 deaths, for a lethality of 1.3%, the report highlighted. In the last 24 hours there are 124 new positive cases. 3,519 tests were applied for a positivity of 3.5%. A total of 2,108 active cases were reported, of which 2,030 are in isolation and 78 hospitalized. According to the Minsa, those who are in isolation are divided into 2,010 in their residences and 20 in the so-called hospital hotels. While those hospitalized are 74 in the wards and four in intensive care units.
With the action promoted by the opposition Panameñista Party, there would already be three unconstitutionality claims against the decision of the majority of the plenary session of the Tribunal Electoral (TE), which maintained the criminal electoral jurisdiction and recognized an alleged principle of specialty in favor of the former president of the Republic, Ricardo Martinelli. The demand of the Panamanistas was presented this Monday. The president of the collective, José Blandón, considered that magistrates Heriberto Araúz and Alfredo Juncá, of the TE, committed a legal issue by resolving issues that do not concern them, such as the principle of specialty contained in international conventions and extradition treaties, “within an issue of electoral jurisdiction”.
The Panamanian Chamber of Construction (Capac) and the Single Union of Construction and Similar Workers (Suntracs) reached an agreement on the salary for the 2022-2025 collective agreement early this Monday, April 4. With the signing of the agreement, the strike called from this Monday by the construction workers is avoided. The Suntracs leadership reported that the salary adjustment consists of $0.28 cents over four years for the general assistant, $0.32 cents for beginners and $0.40 cents for the qualified worker. This increase represents 6% more than the current remuneration and will come into force as of July.
An internal investigation is being carried out by the National Migration Service (SNM) due to complaints received about alleged abuse and pressure against immigrants at the Migratory Reception Station, in Los Planes, Gualaca, in the province of Chiriquí. According to the SNM, the investigation arose after complaints were received through voice messages, detailing the alleged abuses. For this reason, the staff of the Department of Internal Affairs of the SNM “has carried out the corresponding investigations, while the Ombudsman’s Office has been asked to participate in the process,” revealed a statement from the entity distributed this Monday, April 4 .
The Electoral Court (TE) authorized the lawyer Roberto Ruiz Díaz to carry out the procedures established by law to begin the process of collecting signatures to support his request for the revocation of the mandate by popular initiative of the mayor of Panama, José Luis Fábrega. Resolution No. 2 of April 1, 2022 , with which the collection was authorized, is signed by Nilza Delgado de Fernández, regional director of the Electoral Organization of Central Panama, and Katiana González, ad hoc secretary . Ruiz Díaz must collect 30% of the Electoral Register of the district of Panama, that is, 198 thousand 920 signatures to support his request.
The Foreign Minister of Panama, Erika Mouynes , held a meeting with the State Councilor and Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, to whom she presented the Panamanian agenda on cooperation, trade and investment, and political dialogue. This visit to China by Mouynes represents the first face-to-face meeting between the two diplomats, after previous virtual meetings. Regarding the trade area, the Panamanian Foreign Ministry reported this Monday that the certification process for Panamanian pork, chicken and seafood plants was reactivated. Regarding the political issue, it was announced that Foreign Minister Mouynes presented the formal request for the People’s Republic of China to adhere to the Neutrality Protocol of the Panama Canal Treaty.
Countries that are corrupt and have weak institutions are not competitive at a time when a relocation phenomenon is taking place in the world and companies are looking for “safe, reliable, transparent and adequate destinations for their investments.” These reflections were raised by the economist Luis Alberto Morán regarding three international reports that reflect the weakness of Panama in the control of corruption. Specifically, the Fitch Ratings agency said that in Panama the governance indicators linked to the control of corruption are weaker than those of countries with a similar level of rating. Similarly, an analysis by the US bank Morgan Stanley points out that “the main governance problem in Panama is corruption.” For its part, in a classification made by the Council of Lawyers for Civil and Economic Rights on regional efforts to combat corruption, Panama ranked 12th out of 17 countries.