«We have just witnessed an institutional scandal in the Assembly with the rejection of a law that sought to bring academia back to the university,» said Bernal on Radio Panamá. According to Bernal, the rejection of Law 83 «sank the university even further by not allowing the necessary update of its mechanisms that must exist in a university where research and academia must be above clientelism, populism, and corruption». Professor Miguel Antonio Bernal accused the deputies of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) of blocking the law. The law was rejected in second debate with 30 votes against, 26 in favor, and two abstentions. Bernal believes that «because we have not wanted to make the necessary corrections, the modernization and update that corresponds, we have not even been able to do those things that could be done». On another matter, Bernal pointed out that bureaucracy, hand in hand with corruption and impunity, is also causing us horrible damage. Law 83 aimed to prevent the indefinite re-election of authorities within public universities. «And who managed the entire debate? The PRD, through 'Huevito' Pineda, Crispiano Adames, and a substitute named Valencia,» he added.
Institutional Scandal in Panama Assembly over University Law Rejection
Professor Miguel Antonio Bernal accused the PRD party of blocking a law that aimed to modernize the university system and ban the indefinite re-election of authorities. He believes this decision will ruin higher education in the country.
