Anti corruption plans on the table

ANTI-CORRUPTION proposals  produced by the National Development Council are currently being presented to  the ruling administration in the Yellow Room of the Presidential Palace.

Attending are  Minister of Labor Luis Ernesto Carles and the Council Executive Secretary Edwin Rodríguez.

Also present are  Deputy Minister of the Presidency Salvador Sánchez, who was appointed by President Juan Carlos Varela to assess the legal aspects of the standard.

On May 13, Varela announced the creation of a Committee of Ministers to assess the changes to the public procurement law that was previously approved in the National Assembly.

Parallel to the  commission Varela appointed Sanchez to be responsible for assessing the legal aspects of the standard.Sanchez also will also  be the link between the government and organized civil societies to receive their input.

The sticking point is likely to be the call from civil groups to bar companies convicted of corruption outside of Panama from bidding for government contracts. Odebrecht, whose president is serving a near 20 year jail sentence for corruption,  continues to add projects to the over $9 billion already awarded by different Panama administrations.

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