Dissidents Struggle to control PRD in Attempted Government Alliance

In what appears to be an undeniable attempt on the part of the current government to manipulate a political party’s internal matters, the current leaders of the Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD) yesterday revealed the existence of an internal PRD faction that would aim to gain control of the party in order to form an alliance with the panameñista party in 2019.

The dissidents would allegedly be targeting the forthcoming election of party delegates which are scheduled for this coming July. According to Mr. Pérez Herrera, party secretary general, the dissident faction is planning to bribe party members into voting for their cause. The government of Juan Carlos Varela would be behind the distribution of perks and cushy jobs to facilitate the dissidents’ task. Mr. Pérez Herrera goes on to state that this strategy has been in the works since July 1 last year, when PRD member Rubén De León was elected President of the Assembly.

Diógenes Vergara, also a PRD member of the National Assembly, seems to agree with Mr. Pérez Herrera. In an interview to a local newspaper, Mr. Vergara claims that the PRD members of the Assembly that didn’t vote in favor of the election of Mr. de León, are denied some of the benefits granted to colleagues of theirs that did.

“You will know who they are by their very actions”, claimed Mr. Pérez Herrera of the PRD dissidents, qualifying these turncoats as comparable to those that the panameñista party condemned so critically when they were not in government.

Mr. Pérez Herrera went on to accuse the dissidents of acting as spokespeople and defenders of the current administration for all intents and purposes, which is especially regrettable in relation to scandals that have affected government officials or associates. He cited the ongoing “Panama Papers scandal involving law firm Mossack & Fonseca” as a case in point.  

Similarly, Mr. Pérez Herrera condemns the behavior of dissident party members in the National Assemby: “not only do they support and defend the government of Varela – they do so by attacking those members of their own party who play real opposition.” Assembly member Zulay Rodríguez is one such casualty, for the simple fact of denouncing the existence of this unholy alliance, thanks to which a number of officials designated by President Varela have been ratified.

According to Panameñista party member Jorge Gamboa Arosemena, we are at present witnessing a joint government led by Juan Carlos Varela and Martín Torrijos.

For his part, though he refuses to give specific details, Mr. Pérez Herrera confirms that such backroom dealings do exist. “We will make sure that our party presents its own candidate in 2019 – we will go to the polls as a party of opposition, because an alliance with the ruling party would spell defeat”. He added that the party will face down the dissidents in the next internal elections, and that their planned takeover will not succeed.

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Rubén De León Annointed for Re-election to Assembly

Rubén De León is the government-anointed candidate for re-election, hence his re-election is inevitable. Such is the opinion of Zulay Rodríguez, assembly member for the PRD: the view seems to be corroborated by the notable absence of any contenders to the position, just days from the end of the current legislature.

“No one can compete with the multi-million dollar machine that stands behind Rubén De León all the way from the Presidency of the Republic”, Rodríguez stated, while commenting the intention of her party co-member to seek re-election. As a matter of fact, powerful Assembly members belonging to the ruling  panameñista party, such as Adolfo Valderrama, have since publicly supported the re- election of Mr. De León to the Presidency of the Assembly for one more year. An Assembly member sailing from the PRD was supposed to lead the institution in the forthcoming legislature, according to the agreement reached by the PRD and panameñista parties.