Anti-corruption groups want seat at the table

Nine civil society organizations and movements focused on the fight against corruption have proposed a series of actions and asked to be included at the Penanome dialogue table.

Olga de Obaldía, executive director of the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom, the Panamanian chapter of Transparency International, explained that her statement is due to the fact that in the first days of discussions in Penonomé “the issues are not being treated transversally.”

Giulia de Sanctis, from the Center for Democratic Advocacy, noted that “for there to be governability, there must be legitimacy […] the only way to recover it is through these specific measures.”

For the containment of spending and mitigation of public debt, they proposed: an audit of human resources to reduce the state payroll; eliminate all consultancies that are not aligned with development projects; eliminate the discretionary use of public funds; restructure the subsidy programs under strategic criteria and accountability processes and that the final beneficiaries of subsidies to companies are made transparent; and make transparent and restrict the allocation of funds for advertising, “which today are designated discretionally to media related to the government.”

They urged to recover the supervisory role of the Comptroller of the Republic or that he resign; and that the autonomy and budget of the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information and the Ombudsman’s Office be strengthened.

Among the short-term actions, they proposed is the approval of six anti-corruption bills in the National Assembly, including the conflict of interest law and reforms to the entity’s internal regulations.