OPINION: A government without a leader

Since the President of the Republic traveled abroad for health reasons, Panamanians have not heard from him. It is as if he has disappeared and no one can tell us how he is. Consequently, the government is without a leader, since the vice president, no matter how much position he holds, lacks leadership and the country seems to be in a sort of chaos due to the protests caused because of the government’s lack of action. The president, before leaving the country, should have anticipated that these demonstrations would materialize, since popular patience has a clearly marked limit between eating and not doing so.

There are already many who cannot bring the three servings of food to the table, simply because the money is not enough. Faced with this situation, Laurentino Cortizo had to leave everything planned, including attention to these groups of society that (rightly or wrongly) have been protesting, some even before July 1, when the president was last seen in an act.

And, certainly, he should not condition his absences to terms of up to 10 days just to favor his vice president, who does not want to temporarily replace him because he wants to be president in 2024. But, like it or not, Cortizo must be prepared to delegate, because to that he himself chose his vice president. – LA PRENSA, Jul. 9.