Jackson, Choices and more choices

The nature of true leadership is well illustrated by the classic tale of Alexander the Great leading his thirsty army across the desert. A man seeking to curry favor brought the brilliant young Macedonian conqueror a container of water, which Alexander poured out onto the ground, declaring that he would not drink until his army drank.

Viewed from that perspective, Mireya Moscoso has been no leader at all.

The economic free fall that accompanied this president’s first years in office was mostly not her fault. Nor was it mostly the fault of her predecessor. Under capitalism presidents’ approval ratings wax or wane according to their national economies, but in reality the president of General Motors has more say about the condition of the world’s largest economy than does the president of the United States. These past few years we have often suffered and occasionally benefitted from the acts and omissions of both Mireya Moscoso and Ernesto Pérez Balladares, but the main source of Panama’s woe has been a bad economy throughout Latin America.

However, while Panama suffered, Mireya took her entourage on expensive shopping trips around the world. She and her friends put their relatives in public posts. Her administration rigged bids, took bribes, grabbed real estate and public concessions for themselves, closed the government’s books to public scrutiny and made all-around pompous asses of themselves.

In Panama’s time of troubles, the Mireyistas didn’t share the hardships borne by ordinary Panamanians, and they did much to emphasize that fact in the public mind. Maybe Mireya will find some particularly obsequious lackey to call her “The Great,” but she flunks --- miserably --- when graded according to the standard set by young Alexander all those millennia ago.

Ah, but would her potential successors be any better?

One of them, José Miguel Alemán, vows to continue Mireyismo, so we know he doesn’t represent an improvement.

Another, supermarket baron Ricardo Martinelli, affects Alexandrine poses in his “walking in the shoes of the people” campaign, but has a record as director of Seguro Social and as Canal Affairs minister that suggests that he is neither the management whiz nor the man of the people that he would have the voters believe.

In any case, both of these men are destined to be also-rans. The “real” presidential race is between Martín Torrijos and Guillermo Endara.

I will make no endorsement. When these words were written I honestly hadn’t decided between these latter two candidates.

There are positive and negative things that can be truthfully said about each of them.

Like Endara, I’m for a constitutional overhaul by way of a constituent assembly. I’d like to see a professional cop as National Police Chief, as Torrijos says he’d allow. They both promise to run a government that’s far more open with public information than is the present administration, and if they do what they say that alone will go a long way toward improving the quality of The Panama News and most of this country’s other news media.

But Torrijos disappointed by failing to clean house when repeated scandals afflicted the party he leads. And I wouldn’t call Endara’s performance during his 1989-1994 presidency particularly inspiring either.

Would I be so shallow as to pay attention to the “image wars?” Let me try, acknowledging that such things need to be taken with a few large crystals of salt.

Throughout his campaign Endara has come across as someone you like even if you’re voting against him, a somewhat clumsy but very real human being, a man with a decent streak in him. Which probably trumps the image of Torrijos that emerged on the campaign trail, something like that of a photogenic young telenovela actor in a series of staged advertising productions, ads that might as well be for toothpaste rather than a presidential candidate for all the useful information they impart.

After this lackluster campaign, it’s comforting to know that the skills of getting elected and the skills of doing a good job once in office are distinct. There is an excellent chance that the next president, whoever he is, will do a better job as president than he did in this year’s campaign.

Maybe new leaves have been turned, hidden strengths will come to the fore and the eventual winner will have a pleasant surprise in store for us. I can say with far more certainty that it’s a hard choice that rests on such hopes as these.

Considering the next ballot, it appears that many of the current legislators who are seeking another term will be missing when the 2004-2009 Legislative Assembly convenes.

That would be a good thing. I heartily endorse the movement to send the whole lot of them packing. The present legislature is a collective disgrace. Not one of its members was enough of a leader to stand up and say that the scandals of not only the other factions, but also of his or her own, are shameful.

Basta de esta vaina. Look at the potential newcomers and pick the person and party whom you like best, but don’t vote for any incumbent legislators.

On the local level things get more complicated. A number of this country’s mayors and representantes have performed well in trying times and deserve to be re-elected. Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro is one of those --- he didn’t do a perfect job, but he did well enough that the voters ought to keep him for another five years.

If you are eligible to vote, you should do so. Make up your own mind.

If, in a given race, all options are unacceptable, consider the possibilities of casting a blank, spoiled or write-in protest ballot.

If at all possible try to vote positively for candidates you like, rather than negatively against those you dislike.

Don’t let anyone convince you that you “must” vote for the “sure winner” --- the herd mentality is for stupid cattle, not an intelligent person like you.

And let us hope that the next general election will be conducted under different rules, according to a new and improved constitution that Panama so sorely needs.

May the voting proceed smoothly and fairly, the vote count be honest, the best men and women win, and everybody read all about it in the next issue of The Panama News.

Also in this section:
Fisher, Political dinosaurs
Probidad, University of Panama vs. Miguel Antonio Bernal
White, Our Islamic enemies
Silié, Taking the helm at the Association of Caribbean States
Gutman, Those who let America down
Barrow, The mayor's efforts against discrimination
Jackson, As Election Day approaches

opinion

Leadership is...