Presidential piggy bank a medieval relic

THE DISCRETIONARY piggy bank of Panama’s president is an issue that is dogging Juan Carlos Varela and, like the alleged  indiscretions of Donald Trump, is creating problems for the administration.

While the Panama stage is Lilliputian, in comparison it’s an issue that won’t go away, with parties  already  gearing up for the next election.

Varela, unlike Trump   is  a follow-the-leader victim of  a system that he inherited and has embraced , albeit more openly than his predecessors,, responding to critics that it is the prerogative of the president. As one Newsroom reader succinctly put it: “It’s  nice to give away other people’s money”.

But slowly  attitudes are changing. Iistead of the traditional shrug awarded to coima, perks and abuse of office, the citizenry is taking a closer look at this medieval  method of spreading largesse.

The Citizens Alliance for justice is leading the charge, fired up by an outrageous donation of  over $17,000  for a highly paid government official to receive lipo suction in a private hospital.

The gratuitous donation went to party faithful, Rolando López,   President of the National Security Council, whose standard of living may have contributed to his desire  for elective surgery, to reduce his waistline, while the Social Security System and the Ministry of Health struggle to cope with the  unending line of people waiting for essential surgery.

The ire of commentators has been further raised at the revelation  that  the Secretary of the National Assembly, Franz Wever, had an operation for kidney stones costing $ 7,787 that was paid by the fund

Wever  earns $7,000 a month and has never been far  from the cookie jar available to those “serving the people” twisting  the wisdom of Franklin’s aphorism: ”God helps those who help themselves”. The minimum wage, for those lucky enough to get it, hovers around $500.

La Prensa points out  that “With what he has won in wages from the State for so many years he  could have saved something or bought private  insurance, or he could have gone to Social Insurance, like the rest of Panamanians.”

The Alliance – which brings together  at least a dozen civil society organizations  whose voices became stronger- under the cloud of the Martinelli free for all,  says  that there should be “greater controls to prevent this fund from being used subjectively and “far from its nature “.

The alliance has asked the Comptroller General and the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai) to speak up about its use.

Antai  director,  Angelica Maytín, a Varela appointee, diverted the request with   doublespeak: “Long ago [we] examined aspects of public administration capable of improvement … The discretionary item is one of those topics that could be subject to an evaluation to propose the incorporation of parameters that avoid the misuse that was once in place – luxurious clothes, jewelry and other articles of personal use and other excesses.”  She was referring to President Mireya Moscoso whose reign was marred by the handing out of Cartier watches to deputies, disappearing foreign donations  and other financial scandals.

Since Varela took office on July 1, 2014  until today, he has spent $26.7 million of the discretionary funds. in a country of  some 4 million people.

Like  the alleged Trump-Russia links  the discretionary piggybank  is an issue that is not likely to go away.