Movin asks procurement act veto
CURRENT AMENDMENTS to the public procurement bill are insufficient to combat corruption and strengthen transparency says The Independent Movement for Panama (Movin).
The influential non-aligned group requested Sunday, June 12, that President Juan Carlos Varela partially veto the bill that has been widely criticized by civic groups, as it does not address issues that reflect on the granting of contracts totaling over $9 billion by successive governments to the Brazilian construction giant, Odebrecht, whose president is serving a near 20-year prison sentence for corruption linked to the “Car-Wash” scandal.
Other Odebrecht officials have been jailed after admitting to an international bribery network, including support for election campaigns.
Brazilian prosecutors have been seeking assistance from Panamanian authorities in their investigations into over $40 million dollars in bribes, allegedly funneled through Panama banks to Switzerland for distribution to corrupted Brazilian officials .
Swiss Prosecutors are also pressing Panama for assistance in their investigations, while they detain a key Odebrecht official, said to be a facilitator, with access to the Panama accounts
Panama’s current administration has awarded Odebrecht some $2.5 billion in contracts for Metro Line 2, and a Colon redevelopment project.
City Hall has put some icing on the cake with a $100 million street repair project, in spite of protests from the community and rival bidders.
Movin in a public letter, requested the partial veto of article 10 of the law so that it can be expanded. The article disqualifies companies from competing in public bidding processes if they have been convicted of a corruption investigation in Panama. They want the article to be expanded to include corruption convictions outside of the country.
They said they want the change to “encourage the participation of companies with a culture of preventing and fighting against corruption.”
Varela, who has been widely criticized for tardiness in addressing he issue, said he will be considering the law this week.
