“People in need” the cover for vote buying

Panama politician or vote buying s, using taxpayer money have already begun their campaigns for re-election and access to the National Assembly divine rights cookie jar with  flavorsome titbits like  duty free cars, chauffer’s, and a padded payrolls  for staff and relatives

The old political practice of distributing gifts at Christmas, sponsored by state entities is  back to full strength

The Presidency, through the Directorate of Social Assistance (DAS),  the former National Assistance Program at a time of official belt-tightening, invested  $2.9 million in the purchase of hundreds of thousands of $5  vouchers, which were distributed to Provincial Councils for them to distribute to communal boards.

Israel Rodríguez, director of the DAS told   La Prensa that the purpose is to reach “people in need”, and said that in Panama there are 777,0000 people in extreme poverty.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Change  Deputy Mayín Correa published on Twitter a list of deputies, of all political hues who would have received food and hams but He did not specify who managed the delivery of the items.

National Assembly sources reported that hams were are also being delivered by the Presidency through the Agricultural Marketing Institute. There have even been fights between deputies over the amount each one received.

The Presidency granted a contract of $2.9 million – including administrative expenses and taxes – for the purchase of 565,000  Christmas bonds with a value of $5 each.

The contract was endorsed by the Comptroller General The Vice President and Minister of the Presidency, José Gabriel Carrizo, signed on behalf of the Executive the purchase of the bonds for “Christmas incentives”.

The “bearer” vouchers were printed in 95,000 thousand books, in groups of 3, 5 and 10 bonds per book.

The contract was managed through DAS with the justification for the purchase of vouchers to “obtain food, household goods, groceries, generic and first aid medicines and instruments, tools and educational programs for the cultural and intellectual training of minors for learning through play ”.

The “Christmas incentives”, according to the contract, are redeemable in supermarket chains in minisupers, grocery stores and pharmacies.

La Prensa asked Rodriguez if the deputies had access to Christmas incentives. He replied: “I understand not. Particularly we do not deliver to any deputy ”.

Just yesterday, the representative of Democratic Change (CD), Mayín Correa, published on her Twitter account a list with names of deputies who would have been given hams and food n, people from different communities sent photos of deputies in their circuits handing out hams and bags of food.

Meanwhile, sources from the National Assembly told media that the Executive would have been responsible for distributing at least 500 hams and other goods to deputies of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, the Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement, CD and the Panamanian Party. Everything would have been channeled through the Agricultural Market Institute.