Panama gets a "weak" rating in the Public Integrity Index, which tracks corruption, openness and accountability in 25 countries. This peer-reviewed country report includes a timeline covering corruption over the past one to two decades, a reporter's notebook on the culture of corruption and an assessment of the six main integrity categories. The integrity scorecard lists the full set of integrity indicators with scores, commentary and references.
If you think that the word "cemis" has an aseptic, pharmaceutical sound, it might be safely assumed that you are not a Panamanian.
The word refers to what some in Panama call "the greatest corruption scandal in the country's history." Scandalous it certainly was. On January 9, 2002, Congresswoman Balbina Herrera, from the opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD—Partido Revolucionario Democrático), accused Congressman Carlos Afú, also from the PRD, of taking a US$1.5 million bribe to break party ranks and vote for two of President Mireya Moscoso's nominees to the Supreme Court. >>
At the start of the 1990s there flourished a number of civil society organizations that attempted to address some of the problems Panama faced. Some of these organization tackled issues that had previously been addressed, such as social welfare, while others dealt with innovative topics like combating corruption and strengthening citizen participation. The role these organizations have played in strengthening our infant democracy is undeniable. Some notable contributions to our democratic process include actions designed to promote greater public participation and generate awareness of the importance of supervising government administrations. The government is beginning to understand the role of these organizations, and there has been significant progress in generating agreements of cooperation between the government and civil society, particularly relating to the topic of improving public administration. >>