Ruling party skips$10 million black money queries

PANAMA’S   governing party is facing a backlash from civil society as it continues to avoid explaining multi-million dollar “donations” of black money from the bribery department of the Odebrecht company.

The Panameñista Party, currently headed by the brother of  President Juan Carlos Varela received as much as $10 million from companies linked to ex-diplomat, doctor and lobbyist Jaime Lasso,

The party treasurer  Carlos Duboy has been the focus of investigations by the country’s leading newspapers, La Prensa and La  Estrella but failed to answer questions as the party committed to eradicating government corruption, struggles to come up with a strategy to douse the flames now breaking through the early smoke cloud.

“The entire country requires an explanation from the party that is in power and that promised a different action and promised to fight against corruption and now it is known that they received money from Odebrecht and have not explained the circumstances, “said Lina Vega, President of the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International.

Vega questioned the silence of the Panameñistas and warned that the “whole country is waiting for an explanation to a very confusing fact … first, they said that there was no donation, but when they had to accept the fact they have not explained the circumstances. “

La Prensa sent a questionnaire on November 27 to party treasurer Duboy, to explain the origin of the donations he received through Lasso, but they remain unanswered.

Lasso stated that he received money from Odebrecht, which he then handed over to the collective. Media has been able to corroborate that at least $6.5 million was received from companies controlled by Lasso.

Guillermo Márquez Amado, former Electoral Tribunal (TE), judge said that what happened after the “donations” that the party would have received raises two areas to investigate.

The first, he said,  would be a possible violation of the  Criminal Code because it was money allegedly from criminal activities. The second,  could be investigated by the electoral route since the law prohibits donations from foreign companies.

Olga De Obaldía, executive director of the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Liberty

aid  that  “the citizenship requires and deserves an explanation because there is a fatal connection between the private financing of candidates and parties in political campaigns and then the undue influence in governmental management”

On the subject of donations to governments, President Varela, in an interview with Telemetro on March 17, said: “You know how many schools we have repaired with My School First, that the contractors had to donate.”