The President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela, has resorted to giving populist speeches aimed to get the citizen´s approval, prior to the evaluation of his management in the month of September.
The President, before taking off to New York, United States, where he would participate of UN General Assembly 71st session, said that in 2017 there will be an increase of the minimum wage to B/.600 that will come off of the savings in the institutions.
However, this has caused criticism by experts who resent the type of speech similar to those given during election campaign periods, in this case aiming to try to somehow stop censorship around his administration.
For analyst Jose Isabel Blandon, "saving from operational budget is the most difficult to do because it has already been allocated" Where will B/.70 million in savings come from, and will it be properly used?"
The other proposal made by the President was his announcement of lowering the highway toll fees from B/.1.25 to B/.0.70.
"For those of us who know the My Bus system from within and its routes, this the “juicy steak” of that company, which is now State-owned and this will not be profitable," said analyst Blandon, questioning that this decision is not based on any kind of financial analysis.
"This would more likely be a strategic move by the President aiming at influencing the public opinion in a positive way, but these decisions cannot be made disregarding a sensible financial analysis, when there are obvious needs for resources" he said.
Experts agree that the announcement of the President occurs in the midst of social problems such as the lack of medicines, water supply and a poor garbage collection, in which these financial resources should be used.
The President is wrong even in his populist message, "because growth in the first semester is 4.9%, which is below the budget forecast made".
Although the President would not be the only one taking a demagogic behavior. In the last week, the Minister of Housing, Mario Etchelecu, has been accused of promoting his candidacy during the course of his management.
Even Minister of Economy and Finance, Dulcidio De la Guardia, has given populist speeches that affirm that the Panamanian economy continues to be continuously growing.
As a result, political analyst Mario Rognoni said that "contrary to what is being assured by the Government, in that the economy goes well and we are all well, the middle class is already feeling a recession".
Rognoni added that there are many companies that are laying off employees, but it is all about giving people false hopes that things are going to improve.
"The Government knows that popularity-wise, people are steering away from them, then they start to play their cards", he said.
In turn, lawyer and expert Neftalí Jaén assessed that the Government should begin to produce and implement the State general budget.
Jaen says that Ministers have shown up with the idea that in the ministries are made up of a few businessmen and have forgotten that they are public servants who must provide constant information, however they seem to feel upset when they are subjected to the people screening.
