Panama’s untouchables the start of a failed state

 

 

Why don’t the authorities answer a simple question: who are the officials who hold office, despite having a conviction for the commission of a criminal offense? Why are the Comptroller’s Office, the Ministry of Government, the National Attorney’s Office, and the Supreme Court of Justice unable to answer such an elementary question? Is there something to hide? They do not respond because some officials should be in prison, which has not happened, despite the fact that in some cases it is known who they are, where they are, and what office they occupy. Some even manage state accounts. The other possibility – which is much worse – could be that they don’t know who they are or simply don’t care or are untouchable. In any case, it is inconceivable that, despite a conviction, there are those who can continue working in a public entity or local government, when they should be in jail and disqualified from exercising public service. It seems that no one bothers to execute the law and serve justice. Things being like this, it is inevitable that there are criminals in political parties and in the Government, doing misdeeds as they please, without being accountable to anyone. We are experiencing the beginning of a failed state. LA PRENSA, Mar. 24.