Flood of resignations follow Varela firing

The shredding of Panama’s government coalition moved quickly on Wednesday as  resignations poured in to the presidential office.

Meanwhile after the firing By President Ricardo Martinelli  of Juan Carlos  Varela from his post  as Foreign Minister, the airways and TV channels were alive with accusations and counter accusations ranging from accusations of high level administration leaders providing jobs and government cars and bodyguards to their mistresses, to straightforward allegations of corruption and nepotism.

As the chat lines heated up, there were some voices from within the ruling Democratic Change (CD) claiming there was no crisis, while Martinelli rushed to plug the gaps in the administration left by the resignation of Panamanista’s within the government.

Varela’s post as  Vice President cannot be taken from him as he was elected to the office. He vows to stay on as a voice of transparency and, conscience  within the cabinet .

A state minister and six deputy ministers, plus two other senior officials resigned Wednesday.

In his resignation letter to the president,  Alberto Vallarino, Minister of Economy and Finance, said  that during his 26 months in office  he helped "to develop an investment plan unprecedented in our history." 

Housing and Land Management Minister Carlos Duboy, also resigned 

Additionally,  Deputy Minister of  Health, Julio Santamaría; Deputy Foreign Minister Alvaro Aleman;  Deputy Minister  of Government, Luis Ernesto Carles; Deputy Minister of Labor Finance Minister Luis Miguel Hincapie; deputy Minister of Finance Dulcidio de la Guardiam, and Deputy Minister of Social Development, Susy de Varela  packed their bags.

The Deputy Administrator of the Panama Tourism Authority (PTA), Fernando De León who served under Saloman Shamah whos firing was announced in June after allegations surfaced of involvement in money laundering leading to the loss of his US visa, The director of the Public Registry, Luis Barria resigned on Tuesday before the firing of Varela.
 While Panamanians were abandoning their posts in government, the Office of the President was informed of the new appointments made to replace Martinelli.

Five deputy minister vacancies  were filled by: Serafin Sanchez (Health); 
Catibel Franco (Government); Mahesh Shandru Khemlani (Finance); Niurka Palacio (Social Development), Francisco Alvarez De Soto (Foreign Affairs).

Hernando Carrasquilla Abraham was appointed  director of the Public Registry.

According to the President,  the  appointed officials took possession of their posts at a ceremony held Wednesday afternoon at the Palace of the Herons.

Breaking the Alliance for Change, with which the government won more than 60% of the vote in the 2009 elections has led  the Panamanista Party leaders to announce that from now on they would form the largest part of the opposition. With the PTD and the People’s Party they will hold the majority of seats in the assembly, and in a position to block legislation, but bets are on that Martinelli will be offering inducements for “opposition” members  to “change” their labels.

"We're going to be a responsible opposition, but so very strong," said Representatove . Joseph I. Blandon, one of the harshest critics of Martinelli’s management , especially in the issues that caused most controversy during the 26 months of the alliance.

However, Blandon made it clear that it would not form an alliance with the opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). 

Although the President's Office on Wednesday made no reference  no relation to what happened to their former allies , Martinelli, made his comments via Twitter: "Happy to continue working for the people … The change continues."

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