OFF THE CUFF:   Silent candidate, hot potato, tardy males

SILENT ECHO –  Yanibel Abrego, president of The National Assembly has never been afraid to raise her voice in denouncing the nation ’s comptroller, for investigating the criminal spendthrift ways of her fellow deputies and has been quick to condemn media investigations and executive “intrusions”  in the Assembly. Now as she seeks re-election she has lost her tongue after a mob of her supporters attacked a journalist filming the distribution of food parcels to voters. Maybe her voice will return if the Electoral Tribunal does its job and opens an investigation.

HOT POTATO- The director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Natalia Kanem, on a visit to Panama urged a group of women from government, political parties and business  to continue working to eradicate the different forms of violence against women and achieve greater gender equality, improve family planning services, maternal health, sexual and reproductive health education. As local church activists paid no heed to the admonitions of Pope Francis that sex education was better than unwanted births don’t expect Sex-Ed in schools any day soon.

PREDICTION – In December  Nine months after Carnival, there will be a spike in teenage births, which already add up to over 10,000 a year. There will be hand-wringing but no action, unless the new batch of deputies in the National Assembly has the courage to withstand denunciations from the pulpit against sex education in schools.

POINT TAKEN – Ana Matilde, the only woman among seven presidential candidates, was first to arrive at a scheduled forum on women’s issues. At least three of her male opponents arrived an hour late.