national

National dialogue raises doubts

Opposition politicians do not support all the agreements that emerged from last year’s dialogue on development.

LA PRENSA

Objectives: The national dialogue aims to improve the lives of the 37 percent of Panamanians who live in poverty.974807

The Concertación para el Desarrollo Nacional of 2007, an eight-month national dialogue that focussed on development programs to be funded with money generated by the Panama Canal, faces a new challenge: gaining the trust and participation of opposition political parties.

Some of them have viewed the Concertacion as an exclusive instrument of the official Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD) and its allies and want no part in further discussions. Others want more time to analyze the proposals that emerged from the dialogue before committing themselves to any agreements or projects.

The Unión Patriótica party withdrew from the dialogue in protest of the way the discussion groups and plenary were set up. So did the Molirena party. The Cambio Democrático party refused to participate in the process from the start.

The United Nations (UN) played a role in promoting the Concertación, and resident coordinator for the UN in Panama Jose Eguren believes it is important for all parties to participate in a continuing dialogue so that successive governments can implement whatever agreements are reached.

Yet doubts linger concerning those agreements. Guillermo Endara, a former Panamanian president and presidential candidate for 2009 for the Vanguardia Moral de la Patria party, says that he is inclined to evaluate the work of the Concertación but not ready to approve the agreements. "That would be like writing a blank check," he said.

Guillermo Ford, president of the Partido Unión Patriótica (PUP), praised the UN for its work but said that he was not disposed to adhere to all of the agreements in their totality. "El PUP," he commented, "has decided to further analyze some of the ideas and is currently occupied with that."

Sergio González Ruiz, president of the Molirena party, said he would like the UN to send him the complete agreements for analysis. Afterward he would make a decision about whether to sit down at the negotiating table.

Ricardo Martinelli, president of the Cambio Democratico party, declared his determination not to participate in further dialogues. In his view, the Concertación was purely a PRD event that did not face reality.