Panama City/Prensa Latina
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino denied on Thursday that his government intends to privatize the state-owned Social Security Fund (CSS), an institution facing a severe structural and financial crisis.
In his weekly meeting with the press and citizens, the president said that after meeting with the heads of political parties and businessmen for consultations, he will meet with representatives of society next week.
Mulino said that he will also hold talks with delegates from the National Council of Organized Workers (Conato) and the National Confederation of Independent Trade Union Unity (Conusi). On this subject, he added that the appointment of businessman Dino Mon as director of CSS is part of a strategy to make the institution transparent and to foresee ways to guarantee attention and payments to retirees and pensioners.
“It’s a lie, a lie that they continue with the discourse that the appointment of Dino Mon aims at the privatization of insurance. Please, change the tape, they have been doing the same thing for thirty-odd years,” he stressed.
The statements come after complaints of medicine shortages reported by CSS users, which the president lamented and, at the same time, recalled that it is a problem that the entity has been dealing with for many years.
On this subject, the head of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), Fernando Boyd, recently told the media that he looks favorably on the homologation between Minsa and CSS, instead of there being ‘dualities’ in terms of functions.
For the moment, judging by the president’s statements, the stage is open for a potential integration of the health system that begins with the purchase of medicines.
Mulino added that very soon, on national radio and television, he will outline the current situation of social security and the project that Panamanians require, and then begin an active process of citizen consultation.
In response to questions from several journalists about unpopular parametric measures announced as possible by other authorities, and the possible reactions of protests, the ruler denied that raising the retirement age and the worker-employer contributions is being considered, issues that are not contemplated in the current proposal of the Executive that will be announced in due course.
Last week, the Head of State stated that his plan is to develop a broad consultation process with all sectors during the month of August, including trade unions, doctors and business associations, in order to have, in September, more concrete proposals for the reforms to the CSS.
With this, it is expected that a bill will be presented to the National Assembly (unicameral parliament) in October to be discussed and approved in December with the greatest possible support and consensus. The objective of this entire process is to put an end to the financial collapse of the CSS pension system, projected for January 2025 if adjustments are not made, but at the same time seeks to improve the entity’s critical medical services system for the benefit of the population.
#Panamanian #president #denies #privatization #social #security
