The first Government Council involving the cabinet of President Leonel Fernandez was held on Monday, 26 August. Among the resolutions reached and released to the news media were the creation of a liaison between the National Palace and the Congress, to form a National Employment Commission and the drafting of a bill that would restructure social and medical insurance in the D.R.
The Secretary of State without portfolio, Ramon Vallejo Camelo, ex-senator of the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) from Santiago, will be the liaison between Congress and the presidency, and will meet with the presidents of both houses to discuss the passing of important bills such as the approval of the Multilateral Investment Agreement between the D.R.’s Central Bank and the World Bank.
The Employment Commission will be headed by the Minister of Labor, Rafael Albuquerque, which is part of the larger labor plan for the D.R. he has drafted.
One of the most important decisions reached by President Fernandez and his cabinet was to use the funds received from the national fuel surcharge for the payment of the foreign debt in order to free funds in the Central Bank national investments. For details, see Economic Briefs, page 4.