Following in the steps of the king

LUCY MOLINAR  a former TV and radio broadcaster at one time  used the airwaves to castigate those who roamed the corridors of power. That ended when she underwent a metamorphosis and donned “the shoes of the people” the mis-named rallying cry of of ex-oresident Ricardo Martinelli.

Then, like the  page in the Good King Wenceslas story she  trod in the steps of the master.  Unlike the kindly Czech king the steps of Martinelli were not directed to providing succor  for the people whose  shoes he claimed to wear. They led instead to  a previously undiscovered treasure trove, cunningly disguised as the National Assistance Program (PAN). For whom the assistance was meant became clear when the billionaire businessman took office and his officials, business associates, family members  and those plodding in his footsteps   rushed to get their share and,  like the page in the legend  found life  a little cosier

Now, Molinar,  the erstwhile  scourge of the establishment, is herself,  feeling the blows of what she might consider outrageous fortune.

Aa Education Minister she found it harder to deliver than to criticize, but also strayed, according to the Sixth Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, from the path of righteousness, not worthy of a member of Opus Dei.

The prosecutor has filed embezzlement charges against her as part of the investigation into alleged irregularities in the purchase of 3,475 musical instruments for public schools through the National Assistance Program.

Molinar is one of 14 persons under investigation in this scandal, including former PAN directors Giacomo Tamburrelli and Rafael Guardia Jaén.

Guardia Jaén gave a preliminary statement last November in which he said the ministry requested the instruments and named the suppliers, a familiar trend when, like Wenceslas, the master is marking the pathway for his followers

According to the investigation, on November 20, 2013, the Office of the Comptroller General endorsed the spending of $4 million to provide musical instruments for schools. Three months later, Guardia Jaén awarded another contract for $5 million.

Molinar   is also in the spotlight  for irregularities in the purchase of back packs for students and her role in the multi-million dried food scandal, whose central figure  is the former king, intoning, like the old carol “Mark my footsteps good my page, tread though in them boldly.” Molinar dutifully obeyed.