Government’s slowness the has harmed Panamanians

Since taking power two years ago, President Juan Carlos Varela has shown a consistent lack of dynamism in tackling the challenges facing the country. Critics argue that his inability to act decisively has harmed the Panamanian people. Mr. Varela’s dithering has extended from getting on with necessary cabinet reshuffles to dealing with international crises.

Many campaign promises lie by the wayside, as is the case for constitutional reforms. The latter are badly needed to improve the country’s governance. On top of that, President Varela's decision

arbitrarily to suspend many public work projects initiated by the previous administration has also hurt the economy. Medical complexes, food markets and many other public projects aimed at raising the quality of life of ordinary Panamanians, and are mounting to $1.5bn in value, have in fact been suspended by the Varela administration.

The ineffectiveness of the current administration has been so pervasive that it has earned the president the nickname of "the tortoise". The constant problems affecting the security ministry prove

a case in point: in spite of the resignation of the minister and the deputy minister of that institution, the president decided to postpone their replacement by yet another 15 days.

In the face of unsustainable internal dysfunctions, the president acted "like an ostrich burying his head in the sand", according to Rolando Mirones, a former director of the national police. Mr Mirones was heavily critical of President Varela's lack of action in the face of "problems that actually cost lives: he has generally been ineffective, but in the case of security ministry it has been a positive disaster", he argued.

Alma Cortes, acting president of the opposition CD party, accused the government of being inept and of betraying its electoral manifesto. Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, also added his voice to the chorus of criticism. “The country has become a circus” he stated, arguing that the current administration has focused on persecuting political opponents while suspending all major public works. According to the former president, the Panamanian economy has stalled and shows no sign of recovery in sight.

Former security minister Jose Raul Mulino went on record stating that the economy was on “automatic pilot.. except that the actual pilot was missing in the first place”. Mr. Mulino went on to say

that “since Varela and his associates did not expect to win the elections, there were unprepared to govern. They’re like an army of soldiers who unexpectedly win a battle and end up clueless as of what to do with the territory they have conquered”. All the while, problems keep piling up: “Every day we wake up only to find that protesters are blocking some streets to demonstrate against lack of running water. Violence is on the increase and basic food prices on the rise” he lamented.

Last year, President Varela blamed his own ministerial team for the delays in policy implementation. The president went on record as saying that “they have given me the nickname of tortoise, but I think he’d also applies to many of my ministers”, thereby placing the blame on his own ministers for the lack of dynamism in his administration. The president also confirmed that he would personally visit every ministry in order to receive their respective annual review. Only last Tuesday, the president alerted to the fact that the constitutional reform package was not that in the water. However, no multi party meeting has yet been defined.

Businessman Roberto Troncoso is of the view that constitutional reforms are very urgent, especially seeing how ineffectively President Varela has handled recent crises under the current presidential system.