OPINION: When political loyalty outweighs education

The two executive decrees issued by the administration of President Laurentino Cortizo, which equate work experience with academic training, were provisionally suspended by the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. During this suspension, no appointment may be made that corresponds to the criteria contained in the clientelist decrees.

The sad reason behind the action of the Executive Power is very simple: to appoint co-partners, even if they are not suitable or are not qualified for the positions. The message for the hundreds of thousands of young people in our education system is perverse: political loyalty is better than academic training and independent criteria. The government and its supporters will look for some way to hire their supporters, those who walked seeking votes, and not those who burned their eyelashes studying or making great sacrifices to educate themselves. This performance of the Executive portrays the entire Panamanian political class and explains our underdevelopment.