Wasting Time

[Keith Woolford]

POPULISM did not win the last election, but some of the legislators sitting in the National Assembly haven’t recognized that and are wasting the Assembly’s time putting forward projects that are being mocked .The opinion comes Deputy José Luis Varela, of the governing Panameñista party, who says: "The work of the Assembly is being affected by members who have not understood that populism did not win the last election. The Panamanians voted the way they did because they had democracy, and wanted to defend our institutions” he said."The Panamanian people do not even agree with many of these time wasters."The proposals submitted by some deputies include ones identifying official traditional footwear and stew, another which provides free surgery to combat obesity, one banning the flying of foreign flags in public and one that offers subsidies to night-school students and pregnant women. The proposals have come from both the CD and PRD parties. "Such laws do nothing to help Panamanians," he said."It is their constitutional and legal right as a member to present them, but I think these type of draft legislations are doing great damage to the Assembly." Varela said that these initiatives are overshadowing the positive work being done.Newsroom Panama

[Doug Johnson]

What concerns me a little bit is that it reflects some of the current sentiment in Panama to tighten up on immigration.  Not only has it been reflected recently in the Criso de Razas visa, but also in the current interpretations and practices in the Immigration office.  President Verela has not yet appointed a new Director of Immigration, but part of his campaign focused on immigration issues.

We've seen increased measures to ensure that visitors to Panama have return tickets and increased complications on living on a tourist visa by making regular border runs.

Even the Amigos de Panama (Friendly Nations) visa program is now requiring a written offer by a Panamanian employer to qualify under the Professional status path.  

These complications can be overcome, but there is a least an undercurrent of populism and a perceived need to protect jobs in Panama for Panamanians that is clearly present today. The proposed law to ban foreign flags within the country is outright silly with no chance of approval, but it is out there.

[Bernie Moscovitz]

Just anecdotal but in April of this year when our Panama City attorney called us  to tell us our Pensionado visas were approved, we said, " great, we have our temporary visas which are good for a year,  so we'll see you when we get there in November" and she said; with the election coming up in May we should come sooner and get our visas because, after every election, the Ministries change; the key examiners change and you never know what will happen. She was talking about the past predicting the future. So we made a trip in May and got our Carnets and our drivers licenses .We have read here on the Ning and elsewhere that even the previous Government was very concerned about too much possible in-migration from poorer central American countries and that was part of the reason for the tightening at the border points. Meanwhile, the Panama Government and Consulates websites still clearly detail all the visa options available and, while the Pensionado process was lengthy and required both work and legal fees, being told when we arrived last time at Tocumen that we were in the wrong line and should have gone under the sign that says "Panamenos" made all the effort in getting the visas worthwhile.

[David van Harn]

People buy stuff they don't need and politicians propose laws that are not needed.  Critical thinking and setting priorities based on need and logic seems to have disappeared in many governments in both big and small countries and among their residents. 

One of the reasons I chose Panama to live out my days is that the people are happy, optimistic, resilient and self-sufficient, and I think that if crises appear in the next decade, Panamanians will face them and deal with them, rather than whine and cry, play the blame game, and lash out without trying to fix the problems - unlike a certain powerful nation to our north.