“Mourn in the cemetery man wants to be mayor

THE MAN who taunted opposition deputies to “go and mourn in the cemetery” when the controversial law allowing the sale of land in the Free Zone was passed, now wants to be Mayor of Panama.

 Sergio Gálvez, currently deputy chairman of the National Assembly officially threw his hat into what promises to be a very crowded ring., on Friday November 9. Galvez, . is currently not riding high in public esteem.

Hours after his flamboyant declaration in the Assembly  people were indeed mourning in the cemetery. A nine year old was shot by police during the Colon demonstrations and two others were shot in the .days following .
He has opposed he setting up of an investigative commission into the riots, and has been accused of thwarting the constitution He said that he aspires to the office of mayor with the support of the Democratic Change (CD) party. He said he plans the creation of four supermarkets offering items that form the basic food basket at low prices. The supermarkets would be subsidized with municipal funds.
Another deputy who has expressed his intention to run for mayor is Jose Isabel Blandon, Panameñista, who became the power behind, and often in front of  the throne as former mayor Bosco Vallarino staggered from blunder to catastrophe and notoriously fired most of his advisers, but continued on a downward path with their successors.
Blandon has been a continuous outspoken critic of President , even when his  own party was in an alliance with the ruling CD. His role as an unpaid adviser to Bosco, was a barely conceiled stepping stone to the full time job.
Vallarino’s successor , Roxana Mendez, , a CD insider with close ties to Martinelli,  appears to be keeping a firm grip on the city and has made a number of popular moves, may decide she wants to stay, and with the ruling party facing some internal squabbles, following a raft of high level resignations, that might be a safer bet that jumping back into the big pool, where the sharks may be uniting to "throw the bums out"
Former presidential candidate Balbina Herrera . is already hard at work building a team from her PRD supporters. She has a long track record in municipal politics, having been elected mayor of San Miguelito when only 24.
Bobby Velasquez had a substantial lead over Vallarino in the last  maoralty election ,when a dirty tricks rumor claimed he and the PRD had been funded by convicted pyramid scam artist David Murcia. The allegations were later discounted and it was revealed that Murcia had in fact made donations to the Martinelli campaign, The olls flipped, and t Panama got Mayor Bumble not withstanding  the revelation that he had omitted to mention his US  citizenship.

Velasquez, who once honed administrative and organizational skills as head of SINAPROC. The country’s civil defense organization.could also be looking at throwing his safety helmet alongside Galvez’s somewhat smirched  headgear.
And there is still room in the ring for the hardy warrior Miguel Bernal, a constitutional expert and law professor, who in the Noriega years, fell foul of the dictator and faced a heavy fine which he refused to pay. He broadcast an appeal for the pennies of his listeners, and put them in a wheelbarrow and wheeled them to the government offices. He was later forced into exile.
City election time in Panama won’t be dull until the fat lady sings.