Transparency International fingers government corruption

The Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom, the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International (TI), warned Tuesday, as protestors gathered for another march that widespread dissatisfaction has galvanized the country.

“We call on the three powers of the State to guarantee social peace and to attend to the requests that demand the proper use of resources and the cessation of the waste that we are witnessing through the media, in order to achieve the channeling of social tensions for a peaceful coexistence in a democratic and legal State”, said a foundation statement.

It indicated that the right to protest plays an essential role in giving visibility to claims that need to be addressed and voices that must be heard in a democratic society.

Political objectives
“The protests have begun in the face of a government administrative management characterized by a negative cash flow and a dramatic public debt that is used for what appear to be discretionary uses motivated by political objectives and not to provide public services with dignity,” it added.

The organization said  that it is concerned that in the three years of government management there has been a setback in the transparency of public data, a greater weakness in the control institutions, an increase in the state payroll, and a “boldness in political-clientism schemes with public money, leading to various forms of corruption.”