City officials demonstrate in favor of Mayor Bosco
In what was described as a “spontaneous” demonstration a group of employees from the office of Panama’s mayor protested Wednesday over the possibility of him being removed from office.
Mayor Bosco Ricardo Vallarino has been mired in controversy even before his election. When it was discovered he had American citizenship there was a move to disqualify his election. Later, in the balmy days of the coalition, the National Assembly passeed a resolution allowing him to stay in office.
He then stumbled from problem to problem including approving a payment for his wife to travel to Asia on an unauthorized trip. At one stage he publicly fired a large part of his staff and deputy Jose Isabel Blandon, a fellow member of the Panamenista Party stepped forward as an unpaid advisor to the mayor, and for some time spokesman for the mayor’s office, taking the heat after more missteps over direct contracts, garbage collection, the Christmas parade, his Christmas villages on the Cinta Costera and more.
In late December, Blandon, reported that the Government intends to remove the Mayor in 2012. and said the government is putting pressure on the Supreme Court.
According to Blandon, Judge Alejandro Moncada Luna-now-Chief Justice was trying three months ago get a ruling to force the departure of Vallarino. Through this ruling, said Blandon, they wanted to declare "unconstitutional" the resolution of the National Assembly which returned Vallarino’s Panamanian nationality in 2009.
The resolution got 40 votes of the parties of the then government alliance of Democratic Change and Panamenista to give back retroactively – civil rights to themayor.
Now mayoral staff are on the streets chanting slogans like: "Do not mess with Bosco" and "Bosco was elected by the people". Gabriel Soto, director of finance of the Municipality of Panama, said the action of these officials was "spontaneous” and they that would not allow the demonstration that to “affect the institutions of the Municipality of Panama."
