OFF THE CUFF: Panamas jet setting deputies rival judges
WHILE DISCUSSIONS in Panama’s National Assembly are sometimes stalled over lack of a quorum , few of the deputies who have been involved in tax-payer funded junkets, have failed to be on time for their flights to faraway places.
Destinations visited recently include India, Morocco, Zambia, China, Israel, Switzerland, England, Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil, USA, France, Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile and Mexico and their jaunts are rivaled only by the country’s leading magistrates,
To date, the deputy trips have cost just under $1 million, according to a recent Assembly report . The nearly one million dollars, would be enough to cover the payment of the universal $90 quarter grant to about 11,000 primary students, reports La Prensa.
The report lists trips that have been made during the life of the present administration between July 2014 and April 2016.
But the two months in which spending has been the highest, according to the document, were March and April this year, when deputies spent $250,000 on travel.
In April, Assembly Vice President Katleen Levy traveled with five colleagues to Morocco. They each got $7,000 in travel expenses.
According to Levy, who has faced other question regarding her personal financial arrangements, during the trip several agreements were signed “that will benefit both countries,” including scholarships offered by Morocco to Panamanian students.
Is it a surprise that the Assembly is dragging its feet over investigating the high flying overseas visits of Supreme Court, judges whose desks are piled high with delayed cases?
