Weekly Report - 22 March 2012 (WR-12-12)

PANAMA | Security tensions at the top. President Ricardo Martinelli faced a looming crisis after tensions between Security Minister José Raúl Mulino and Police Chief Gustavo Pérez de la Ossa prompted the former to present his ‘irrevocable’ resignation on 9 March, only to retract it subsequently. The row was prompted by Pérez’s rejection of a bill backed by Mulino to create an internal affairs tribunal for cases against police officers. In what Mulino described as an “unacceptable act of insubordination”, Pérez came out against it, arguing that “only the police can judge the police”. Having served in the notorious ‘anti-terrorism’ unit of former military ruler Manuel Noriega (1983-1989), Pérez remains a controversial figure [WR-11-50] and his stand did little to assuage ongoing doubts regarding his influence in the government. Martinelli who appointed Pérez in 2009, sought to defuse the looming crisis by switching him with Julio Moltó, the head of the executive’s national state security council. Martinelli has, however, withdrawn the contentious bill.

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