Claims for tenders increase under t Varela's management

After a year and a half in office, the government of Juan Carlos Varela can not talk of transparency and fighting corruption. The scandals of mismanagement in hiring and purchases have touched on this government to the Agricultural Marketing Institute (IMA); the Social Security Fund; the Ministry of Housing and Land Management (Miviot) Tocumen SA; Ministry of Education (Meduca) and the National Assistance Program (PAN).

Varela has tried to defend some of the officials involved in these irregularities, but in several cases has had to withdraw, as it was with the former director of IMA Edwin Cardenas, reported by the Comptroller of having caused injury to the state for $ 5 million Trust Fund for Food Programme Solidarity.

 Varela has also come to predict the innocence of Miviot minister, Mario Etchelecu, and the director of PAN, Rafael Stanziola, whom the prosecution was forced to open up a process by public pressure. Both are linked to the case of direct and fractionated Ceilings of Hopes for shopping program, in which a small group of favorite companies, including Airco SA, Royal Construction, Auto Partes La Competencia, TLK Import & Export; Productos Superiores, among others.

The Comptroller General's Office has already rejected several of these contracts, but the board of PAN, headed by Minister of the Presidency, Alvaro German, the insistence adopted.

 All these irregularities, with possible sponsorship from senior government officials, have deteriorated the confidence of companies seeking to tender cleanly with the state.

This is concluded from the statistics of the Court of Public Contracting, where claims have grown tremendously during the government of Varela, who today is going through a crisis to corruption scandals.

According to the figures of this court, in 2015 236 appeals and complaints handled bidding and purchases through the website PanamaCompras were presented.

This represents a dramatic increase (41.3%) compared to the figures of 2014, when claims reached only 167 cases.

Other scandals of this government was the alleged officers network operating inside Meduca, which manipulated the bidding processes for certain businesses.

The own Education Minister Marcela Paredes, acknowledged that he had to leave several directors and national leaders because the volume of complaints and appeals in recruitment was high.

Among those dismissed in the Meduca are Ivanessa Mojica Gonzalez, managing director of Meduca; Próspero Carrion, head of Procurement; members of the National Curriculum Directorate, between another group of officials involved in procurement processes of the organization.

The minister Paredes also confirmed the resignation of the head of the Legal Department Meduca, Luis Cedeno Merel. "All processes failed had to go through him, and to this obvious situation of multiple failures, he submitted his resignation", said Paredes, who agreed that all the dismissed officials were appointed under his administration said.

The case was handed to the Comptroller General of the Republic, among which currently runs an internal audit to the Meduca.

But the most delicate scandal of the current administration has been to purchases Miviot through the PAN, since a purchase of heavy equipment was fractionated to favor a company linked to Government: Airco SA It was learned that not only belongs to Airco Pedro "Peter" Vallarino, a personal friend of President Juan Carlos Varela; but the company has as manager Ricardo "Ricky" Mouynes Kisswetter, who is married to Stephanie German, daughter of Alvaro German Minister of the Presidency.

But the links with backhoes  millionaire business on the Ceilings of Hopes program is narrower than imagined.

Who considered that this case warrants the immediate resignation or dismissal of the Aleman minister was Enrique Montenegro, Anti-Corruption Front of Panama, who said that as a lawyer, Aleman should be aware that the perception that is given is of influence peddling, being the enterprise of one of their relatives benefited most.

"Here there was no excuse, definitely is very clear that there is influence peddling, and the minister should resign immediately to not harm the government Varela" he added.

In fact, Montenegro believes to be "rebajarle salary" to the Attorney General of the Nation, Kenya Porcell, "because he's doing half their work" to bring them some special interest cases and be slow in others.

Given the variety of cases have shown that the current administration does not seem entirely "transparent" Montenegro said that "inevitably" will have to come a popular movement to reject all acts of corruption being committed.

"It can not be possible that in the last five years is judging people by the same things that are being committed now," he said.

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Directos

25 es el número mínimo de contratos directos que dio el PAN para el programa Techos de Esperanza, del Miviot.

27 días tiene el DAS, antiguo PAN.

Interés oculto del ministro Alemán, quien defendió a capa y espada contrato con beneficios familiares

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