A key promise of President Varela 2014 electoral manifesto was the reform of the laws regulating the status of the public administration’s civil servants. As a matter of fact, there exists a bill of law that has been drafted on the subject: however, it has been sitting idle in the national assembly for eight months.
Every five years, 50,000 civil servants are subject to great instability and the possibility of losing their job. This has a real impact on their livelihoods, affecting credit ratings, mortgages, car loans and so on.
In spite of President Varela’s protestations that discussions were under way, there has been no real progress on the promised reform. Many see in the heads of state institutions, who are political appointees, the main obstacles to progress.
On the subject, the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (CCIAP) requested the urgent revision of laws governing career civil servants, as well as the elimination of privileges and immunities. In their view, the latter is a key step towards regaining public trust in the state administration. In fact, immunity from prosecution has protected more than one individual involved in corruption scandals, including in the judiciary.
The new law would help put an end to the routine abuse of workers' rights by incoming governments. As a way of example, at the rubbish collection authority, eight workers were dismissed and their arrears unpaid.
