Panamas errant mayor stays on and fires management team

They pushed and they pulled, including the president Ricardo Martinelli and Vice President Juan Carlos Valerino, but they couldn’t get floundering Mayor Bosco Vallaino to move.

At a late starting  press conference on Monday  evening , when it was widely expected that he would accede to requests from all sides for him to leave, Vallarino gave the thumbs down to public and presidential opinion and announced his decision to stay in office.
Instead his management team have been chosen to take the fall and all have been fired.
Vallarino said he spoke with Juan Carlos Varela, who is also president of the Panamañista Party to which the mayor belongs, and he "brought home the need for a new team" working to turn around  the Mayor’s plans and to realize campaign promises .

 "I’ve asked my management team put in their resignations.  All have made their positions available this afternoon”, the mayor said.

Vallarino’s work has been strongly criticized by both the president, Ricardo Martinelli, who publicly asked for the mayor’s resignation and Varela, vice president and Foreign Minister of Panama and other "Change" party leaders. He has been described by some as the worst mayor the city has ever endured. 

For his previous errors he said:"I apologize to my people because I love this city, I love this country," and added that the previous administration left the city  in a bad financial situation. "We received a sacked community " he said.
 "When one is embattled, the only one way is to  ask the Lord for  wisdom." For this reason, he said he made the decision to make profound changes in his team to turn things around.
Now we know it’s not his fault. It’s the fault of the team he managed.

In football parlance, as exemplified in the World Cup, failed managers are expected to fall upon their swords. Perhaps their wasn’t one handy.

Earlier in the day Varela said that he had a four hour meeting with Vallarino in which an assessment was made of his image in the community over his  (mis)management.

So is the man who loves his city and country going to be in charge? Although   Mayor Bosco  says he will remain in office, a transition team will take over the reins of the municipality  in the coming days.
The leader of the team is expected to be Vice President Juan Carlos Varela, who is also the head of Panameñista, Bosco’s party, and the man who persuaded the mayor to run for office.  The team will also include José Isabel Blandón, the new secretary general of the city.
The transition team is expected to be in place for the next three months, at which time a decision will be made whether Vallarino should remain in office or whether he should step down, according to a source in the Mayor’s Office.
Vallarino  confirmed that, he accepted the entry of the transition team to help the Mayor’s Office to improve its direction and leadership.
At the press conference the he avoided answering questions from journalists who had waited up to two hours in advance it had been called or officially confirmed at 5:45 pm., but started an hour later… .A new beginning?