IS THE  MINISTER of the Presidency, living in a bubble or  just unable to connect with the office of  the Comptroller, a few minutes boat ride across the bay from the Presidential Palace?

On Thursday, January 21, while giving examples of the squeaky clean   management of the current administration, Minister Álvaro Alemán said that accusations that contracts were intentionally structured to avoid oversight, were allegations based on political interests seeking to damage the government of President Juan Carlos Varela.

Followers of Panama’s political hurly burly will remember a similar mantra from the presidency each time local media uncovered what was euphemistically called an “irregularity” during the Martinelli years.

Last week, Comptroller Federico Humbert (not a “political interest”) refused to endorse contracts issued by the Roofs of Hope  program because they appeared to be manipulated to avoid oversight by keeping them under a $300,000 threshold,  and prosecutors  have opened an investigation into the Department of National Assistance (DAS) and the Ministry of Housing for potential irregularities .

On what seemed safer ground he said   that the purchases made by the National Assistance Program (PAN) during the current government were "real," and not subject to the level of corruption the program experienced during the previous government.

"The companies that received the contracts previously were close to the regime," said Alemán, who is a member of the board of DAS, which replaced the PAN. He overlooked the latest uproar over three contracts each conveniently under the $300,000 ceiling, issued to Showpro, for Christmas lights. Showpro was very close to the previous government, and was under investigation for tax fraud when the contracts were issued. Perhaps his aides don’t follow media reports.

According to Alemán, the PAN was plagued with cost overruns during the previous government, while the current government has had a much tighter control on spending.

For example, he said, backhoes were purchased by the program for as low as $56,000 each, while the previous government made the same purchase for $71,000.