Changing of the cabinet?   Maybe move out the “Minister of Under the Table Payouts”, or the “VP of Lining Pockets and Utter Bullshit”.  

https://www-laestrella-com-pa.translate.goog/nacional/politica/220418/pugna-control-prd-motivaria-cambios?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

A few months after completing his three years in office, the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, is analyzing the possibility of making changes to his presidential cabinet, according to political and government sources close to the president.

There are several names of ministers who are insistently mentioned that they could be replaced from their positions in the coming days.

Among these are the Minister of Commerce and Industries, Ramón Martínez, who would have been appointed by President Cortizo, as Panama’s ambassador to Washington.

There is also talk of the possible departure of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Erika Mouynes. The reasons for her possible removal, at the moment are publicly unknown.

Mouynes has just toured several important Asian countries, including China and Singapore, and the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is expected to visit the country in the coming weeks.

Among the officials who could also be replaced by the president is the Minister of Government, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, and even the Minister of the Presidency, José Gabriel Carrizo.

According to the sources, the probable departure of Carrizo as Minister of the Presidency would be part of the strategy to focus mainly on the possibility of gaining control of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), which will hold the XI Ordinary Congress on May 15. where the new National Executive Committee (CEN) of the party will be chosen.

Just last Wednesday, a consensus list was announced in the dispute over the CEN positions, in which Carrizo would aspire to preside over the PRD, while President Cortizo Cohen would seek the general secretary of the party.

Outside the Ministry of the Presidency, Carrizo would thus seek to shore up and consolidate his possible aspirations as the PRD’s presidential standard-bearer for the 2024 elections.

If these adjustments to the governmental machinery materialize, it would be the second cabinet change made by President Cortizo this year.

On February 10, the president appointed Giselle González Villarrué as Minister of Culture; Marta Elida Gordón as the new Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diana Laguna Caicedo as the new Deputy Minister of the Environment

González Villarrué replaced former minister Carlos Aguilar Navarro, who was appointed to the foreign service.

While Marta Élida Gordón replaced Dayra Carrizo, who was appointed Superintendent of Supervision and Regulation of Non-Financial Entities.

Stoute: Changes respond to electoral interests

For the political analyst José Eugenio Stoute, the insistent rumors about possible cabinet changes respond solely and exclusively to the need to prepare the government for the upcoming electoral fight in advance. “They have no other goal,” he said.

He specified that patronage actions will deepen, as well as the increase in the state payroll, as has happened prior to the election of the new CEN of the PRD.

For Stoute, in short, if there are changes in some ministries, it will not be for reasons of efficiency in ministerial management, but for the reason of transforming government institutions into clientelistic electoral tools.

“The distribution of scholarships, bags of food, and the hiring of temporary personnel, will be the rule of what is missing to reach the election of the presidential candidate and the general elections,” he said.

Meanwhile, for the political scientist, Richard Morales, the cabinet changes at this juncture strictly respond to the internal elections of the PRD, and to the different disputes that are taking place around those elections.

He argued that the ministries that are mentioned for changes are not involved in the most sensitive or urgent areas of the government.

“The changes are urgently needed above all in the ministries involved in the provision of fundamental public services, such as education and health. Public Works, MEF, Meduca, Minsa, Aseo; but in truth, the problem is one of direction, and as long as there is no vision, plan and leadership from the presidency, the changes in the ministries will not make much difference in the management”, Morales pointed out.