President’s lukewarm address high on lists low on solutions

[Moderator_03]

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President’s lukewarm address high on lists low on solutions

Posted 02/01/2023

President, Cortizo, started the year 2023 with a report to the Nation where he gave very lukewarm details about important national problems such as the Disability, Old Age and Death program of the Social Security Fund (CSS ), economic recovery, and job creation reports TVN.

On the mining issue, he did not dedicate more than 5 lines to a matter of millions of dollars that in recent weeks has been the focus of local and international media.

He said that the Supreme Court declared Law 9 of 1997 unconstitutional, which approved the contract with Minera Panamá and that in 2022 an agreement was reached in which a contract with various aspects should be embodied, guaranteeing a minimum contribution of $375 million.

" The government's position is firm, in the sense of enforcing the Constitution ," he said.

Cortizo added that the final contract text that establishes a "fair" agreement was presented to the company.

For more than an hour, the President dedicated himself to reading a long list of more than 200 projects underway and to be tendered.

The president recalled again that, of the 42 months in government, he has spent 34 facing the pandemic. "The storm of storms, Never in the last 100 years has a government faced such a colossal and complex challenge, two hurricanes and the consequence of the war in Ukraine."

"I have had the honor of leading the country in these unprecedented circumstances," he said.

CSS solution
Regarding the Social Security Fund, he said that the Government is respectful of the entity's autonomy and hopes that viable options will emerge from the dialogue table that allows a response and that economic recovery will not be put in trouble.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/presidents-lukewarm-address-high-on-lists-low-on-solutions

[Moderator_03]

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Independent lawmaker derides president's report

Posted 02/01/2023

"Unfortunately, the president has not failed to always leave a lot to say and a lot to hope for", said the independent deputy Juan Diego Vásquez reacting to the report to the nation, made by President Cortizo, on Monday, January 2, during the installation of a new legislative period.

He sees with concern that there was no mention of any kind of education in terms of quality and the service it provides to the state, which has been frowned upon both outside and inside the country.

"There were also no specific mentions in relation to corruption, about the mining contract, there was no clear establishment of what the plans to follow in the negotiation are, real mentions "beyond an incredible count of the national hydrography of the rivers".

"He says that this is a report and that when he goes to the districts and corregimientos people treat him well, it must be the people who have a slate, his fellow supporters and his deputies," he emphasized.

He also cataloged Cortizo as "convenient, comfortable, and irresponsible", when he referred to the issue of the Social Security Fund, of which he said he respected its autonomy, however, when he spoke of CSS works, he  acts as if he were bidding for them, like "I take the good, but I ignore the bad."

Vásquez stated that the president has left a lot to say, but he is the leader of the country, with a report in which he does not propose what the future of the country should be, does not establish a course, a path that can be expected, what he is going to do to make the country better. "Without direction and without a plan we are not going to get ahead

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/independent-lawmaker-derides-presidents-report