Thirty-nine days are left for the Government of Juan Carlos Varela to be two years old, and Ministers, Vice-Ministers and directors of entities have been involved in scandals that have forced them to quit and leave the government through the back door.
This situation has left a very bad image of the Government Administration, just as the latest polls reflected.
Not even one year of Varela´s administration had elapsed (January 2015) when the first resignation took place and not precisely in order to go to another governmental entity.
It is about Grimaldo Cordoba, who resigned from the post of director health promotion of the Minsa once the Technical Council of the Public Health carried out an investigation for not having his license of pediatrician.
Cordoba was sentenced to 42 months in prison, a sentence that is on appeal.
Three months later, Edwin Cárdenas, then director of the Institute of Agricultural Marketing (IMA), made his position available, once it became known that had had hired several relatives in the State entity he ran, in addition to committing irregularities in contracts containing a possible patrimonial damage amounting to 6 million dollars, according to the Comptroller.Two months later, Ada Romero, then Administrator of the Authority of the Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Ampyme), leaves her post, after alleged complaint of bribes.
In an unusual case, the now former Vice Minister of Social Development, Zulema Sucre, who dismissed her bodyguards because they opposed to continue walking her dog, named Gucci, resigned from office.
Most recent casesOne of the most talked-about cases is that which involves the former Minister Counsellor Ramón Fonseca Mora, who resigned after revealing how his firm created offshore companies not only in Panama, but in several other countries in the world that are considered tax havens.
This fact caused Panama to be in the eye of the storm for several weeks and it was also included by France in the grey list, again.
Others who are on the list are former Minister and former Vice Minister of Security Rodolfo Aguilera and Rogelio Donadío, respectively, who resigned due to personal differences that have transcended the public.Panameñista leader, Jorge Gamboa Arosemena, considers that Varela´s way of doing politics is via political patronage, so he has failed to take onboard his government citizens capable of doing the work for the benefit of the population.
"He did not seek the cooperation within his political party´s people to govern, but their social class - friends of business - and here are the results," he said.
According to Gamboa Arosemena, the people are frustrated because they think that the Government only has benefited his campaign donors.
"The panameñistas are not the ones who really are ruling, but friends who wish to take advantage of power", he added.
He predicted that in the next three years that are left of Government, there will be chaos because Varela never understood that he should have restructured the Panamanian State through a particular action that he had promised, the Constituent.
For his part, political scientist Richard Morales said that during his campaign, Varela promised much transparency and zero corruption in his administration, which he has not fulfilled.
"In two years, there is evidence of corruption and impunity, reason why there are officials who are still in office," he said.
He said that "the Government does not have any commitment to transparency and when they were not directly involved, they have been complicit because they have remained silent".
Morales noted that at this stage it is very difficult that the Government change this inefficient, corrupt model, and the only way out will be through public pressure so that it complies with the general expectations.
"Changing Ministers and directors there will make no difference in management because the flaw lies in the leadership, and that requires pressure of the people, or else, everything will be the same", he said.
Enrique Montenegro, Secretary General of the Anti-corruption Front, meanwhile, said that the same mistakes as in the last administration are being committed with the caveat that those are indeed being investigated and those current one are moving sluggishly as a turtle " he asserted.
"The Government needs to straighten its direction to save Panama from total chaos", he said.