Possible nominees for upcoming cabinet shuffle.

With six weeks to go before President Ricardo Martinelli’s promised Cabinet clean out time, speculation is rife about who’s going and who’s coming.

With the government reeling from multiple corruption  allegations, the rumor mills are grinding at full speed.

La Prensa on Thursday , May 19, quoting sources within the government  listed names that are being circulated  as fresh faces in the Cabinet Council.

Most likely on his way out is Saloman Shamah  manager of Panama’s tourism authority, who has been the center of a scandal following allegations of links to drug trafficking  and money laundering, and the revoking of his U.S. visa..

Businessman Jaime Figueroa has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Shamah..

Figueroa is a member of the Tourism Committee of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives and owner of   Allinone, providing services to tourists  and new residents in Panama. He is also a contributor to Newsroom Panama, and is recognized as an innovative thinker, with a strong patriotic streak and some firm ideas  on how to build Panama’s image as a tourist destination.

Figueroa  had been considered for the position before Martinelli named Shamah, a key advisor during the presidential election campaign, to the post.  

Another name going the  moving-up rounds is  Anibal Galindo, as a replacement to  Juan Carlos Varela as Foreign Minister, leaving him with his role as Vice President and  allowing him to focus on his  upcoming presidential campaign

Customs Director Gloria López Moreno has been named as the possible new director of Immigration, replacing Maria Christian Gonzalez, who has been engulfed in a corruption scandal.