Mulino resignation gets a new twist

“When does “irrevocable” become maybe? was the question  being asked by political observers in Panama on Monday March 12.

The raised eyebrows came after statements by Foreign Minister, Roberto Henriquez, that the future of Raoul Mulino in the office of Minister of Public Safety might  be defined on Tuesday, during the Cabinet Meeting. "We hope to  define the situation, including the permanence or otherwise of Mulino in the job," Henriquez told local media. 

He said that  Mulino resigned  [irrevocably] from March 15, a situation "that leaves an option for  reconsideration." 

The issue was handled with "great intensity" between President Ricardo Martinelli and  Minister  Mulino and the various directors making up the country's security agencies said Henriquez.  The central theme of the ministerial meeting on Tuesday,, will be the review of The Disciplinary Justice Administration, which created differences between Mulino and the police chief Gustavo Perez on Friday March 9.

 Mulino resigned "irrevocably" from the post of Minister of Public Security, because he considered actions of National Police chief Gustavo Perez "unacceptable, illegal and unconstitutional."

 A day earlier, Perez had rejected the draft law intended to create a single office of internal affairs.  Henriquez insisted that the Cabinet will have a clearer picture on Tuesday. Although the President  had earlier intimated that there was “no problem”  and he would make an announcement on Monday about  the appointment of a replacement for the head of Public Safety, no news came from the Presidential office  or his Twitter account where he first caused the storm by cancelling a cabinet decision to create a new disciplinary board after Perez, subordinate to Mulino, criticized the move.