Latest news with #pensionReform
Al Jazeera
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Panama declares emergency in western province after deadly pension protests
Panama has declared a state of emergency in western Bocas del Toro province, where antigovernment protesters opposing a pension reform law are accused of setting fire to a baseball stadium and of looting businesses, including a provincial airport. The protests that erupted two months ago in Bocas del Toro, a major banana-producing region, intensified this week, culminating in clashes with police that left one person dead and injured about 30 people, including several officers, police said on Friday. Presidential Minister Juan Carlos Orillac said in a news conference on Friday that the move to suspend some constitutional rights and ban public gatherings would allow the government to reestablish order and 'rescue' the province from 'radical groups', adding that the damage caused to public properties was 'unacceptable and did not represent a legitimate protest'. 'In the face of the disruption of order and acts of systematic violence, the state will enforce its constitutional mandate to guarantee peace,' he said. The measure will be in place for five days, he said. The protesters, backed by unions and Indigenous groups across the country, have faced off with authorities over a pension reform law passed in March. Confrontations have been particularly intense in Bocas del Toro, largely led by workers at a local Chiquita banana plantation. The multinational banana giant Chiquita called the workers' strike an 'unjustified abandonment of work' and sacked thousands of employees. Those workers ultimately withdrew from the protests after they were able to negotiate the restoration of some benefits that had been removed under the March pension reform. Still, the government has said roadblocks in Bocas del Toro have yet to be lifted, though it did not directly attribute them to the Chiquita workers. The violence peaked in the city of Changuinola, Bocas del Toro's main city, on Thursday when groups of hooded individuals looted businesses and partially set fire to a baseball stadium with police officers inside, authorities said. Police said 'vandals took over' the local airport, stole vehicles belonging to car rental companies, and looted an office and a warehouse containing supplies belonging to Chiquita. Flights at the airport were still suspended on Friday. Panama's right-wing President Jose Raul Mulino has been facing protests on several fronts in recent months. Besides the pension reforms, Panamanians have also been in the streets over a deal Mulino struck with US President Donald Trump in April allowing US troops to deploy to Panamanian bases along the Panama Canal. Mulino made the concession to Trump after the US leader repeatedly threatened to 'take back' the US-built waterway. Mulino has also angered environmentalists by threatening to reopen Cobre Panama, one of Central America's biggest copper mines.
BBC News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Panama declares emergency over banana region unrest
Panama has declared an emergency in its main banana-producing region, after shops were looted and buildings vandalised in ongoing protests over a pension reform. The government says constitutional rights will be suspended for the next five days in the north-western Bocas del Toro province. The measure restricts freedom of movement and allows the police to make arrests without a warrant. Troubles in the region began a month ago, when the local banana workers union joined a nationwide protest against proposed pension cuts and declared a strike. "In the face of the disruption of order and acts of systematic violence, the state will enforce its constitutional mandate to guarantee peace," said Juan Carlos Orillac, minister of the measure, he added, would allow to "rescue the province" from across the Latin American nation erupted back in March over the pension reform. In Bocas del Toro, the unrest has been largely led by workers at a Chiquita Brands banana plantation. The confrontation escalated last month after the company sacked thousands of striking have been setting up roadblocks in the province, often clashing with this week, crowds damaged one of Chiquita Brands' facilities as well as a local airport.
CTV News
16 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Panama suspends constitutional protections in the northwest after destructive protests
Anti-government protesters block a highway in the Indigenous Embera community of Arimae, Panama, Thursday, June 5, 2025, during a demonstration against a pension reform law and a security agreement with the United States involving the Panama Canal.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) PANAMA CITY — Panama suspended constitutional protections for five days in its northwestern Bocas del Toro province Friday after two months of protests and road blockades turned more destructive the previous night. Presidential Minister Juan Carlos Orillac said in a news conference that the move would allow the government to reestablish order and 'rescue the province' from 'radical groups.' What began as nationwide protests against changes to the social security system morphed Thursday night into people damaging the local airport and the facilities of banana giant Chiquita Brands, which fired thousands of striking workers in the province last month. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino had said at the time that the banana workers' strike was illegal and included some 5,000 workers. On May 27, the government declared a state of emergency in the province without suspending constitutional protections. But actions by masked people authorities described as criminals overnight led Mulino to announce Thursday night that he would meet with his Cabinet Friday to take action. The perpetrators forced their way into the airport in Changuinola, Bocas del Toro's main city, where they vandalized cars and started a fire in the local baseball stadium. They sacked Chiquita's shuttered facility and destroyed a local office of the National Civil Defense Service. Protests, marches and occasional roadblocks have stretched from one end of the country to the other as teachers, construction workers and other unions rejected changes the government said were necessary to keep the social security system solvent. Demonstrations have occasionally turned violent, but the forced entrance of people to the airport and banana facility overnight triggered Friday's government reaction. Earlier this month, Mulino brought in a Catholic archbishop and a rabbi to act as mediators with protesters. Last week, Panama's Congress approved a new law for the banana sector that was part of an agreement to end the strike by protecting workers' benefits like medical assistance and labor protections under the new social security regime. By Alma Solís And Juan Zamorano.
Japan Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Parliament enacts revised pension reform bill
Parliament on Friday enacted a revised pension reform bill that calls for a measure to shore up basic pension benefits. The legislation passed the House of Councilors, the upper chamber of the Diet, by a majority vote, receiving support from the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) and others. The basic pension improvement plan was initially not included in the government-submitted bill, reflecting opposition among LDP members, but a supplementary provision calling for such a measure was added following an agreement between the ruling bloc and the CDP. The revised bill had cleared the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, last month.
Japan Times
24-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Bill that would raise Japanese pension benefits on track to pass parliament
The Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito are preparing to accept an opposition party proposal to amend a pension reform bill, paving the way for its enactment during the current session of parliament. The ruling bloc will back the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's amendment, which includes a plan to raise basic pension benefits, senior LDP and Komeito members said Saturday. With the proposal getting the nod, including from LDP members who had demanded the increased benefits be scrapped from the original draft, the bill is likely to pass during the current session, which ends June 22. The level of basic pension benefits, provided to all citizens, is expected to slump over time due to the country's shrinking and aging population. The government had sought to include in the bill a plan to hike basic pension benefits by tapping reserves of the kōsei nenkin public pension program for corporate and government workers, as well as state coffers. However, some in the LDP expressed concerns that this would briefly lower kōsei nenkin benefits and create a fresh burden for citizens. Senior party members in the Upper House opposed the plan, out of worries about its impact on this summer's election. The benefit-raising plan is absent from the pension reform bill, which the government recently submitted to parliament. The CDP slammed the move, saying that the bill lacks the most important element, comparing it to an "anpan (bean paste bun) without bean paste." On Thursday, it presented to the ruling bloc an outline of its proposed amendment saying that basic pension benefits would be hiked if benefit levels are found to decrease in the government's 2029 public pension review. Senior LDP members including Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama and Masaji Matsuyama, the party's secretary-general in the Upper House, held intermittent discussions Friday and agreed broadly to reflect the CDP amendment in the bill as a supplementary provision. The CDP's proposed amendment "is in line with Komeito's original call," Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito told reporters Saturday in Satte, Saitama Prefecture. "It will lead to a sense of security for the working generation." The ruling parties and the CDP are slated to discuss the issue again on Monday. If they agree, they will amend the bill, aiming to pass it through the Lower House and send it on to the Upper House within the month. Some LDP executives have proposed that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the president of the LDP, and CDP President Yoshihiko Noda meet to give a final confirmation of the expected agreement, in order to ensure the bill's enactment during the current parliamentary session. Speaking to reporters in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Noda said he wants to have the bill pass the Lower House by next weekend.
