President Leonel Fernandez terminated Miguel Solano as assistant Technical Secretary to the Presidency on 17 September, three days after Mr. Solano accused the central government of permitting alleged corruption in the granting of public works contracts. Mr. Solano said publicly that President Fernandez and the Secretary of the Presidency, Danilo Medina, gave their blessing to the Administrative Secretary of the Presidency, Diandino Peña, for the granting of lucrative construction contracts without proper bidding and competition.
The ex-assistant technical secretary also accused Mr. Peña, who was instrumental in attracting the support of prominent businessmen for the presidential candidacy of Mr. Fernandez, of buying eight jeeps and other accessories for high-ranking members of the government with offices in the National Palace, overstepping his boundaries as administrative secretary.
Mr. Solano, who claimed that irregularities are being committed in the Customs Department, told the news media that the new government is not showing any signs of combating corruption, and also criticized the fact that the Presumption of Illicit Enrichment Bill has not been sent to Congress.
The press office of the National Palace denied the charges, saying that Mr. Solano’s statements were not true, and that Mr. Peña had not been authorized to grant any construction contracts, which was confirmed by the Minister of Public Works, Jaime Duran, and by Mr. Peña himself.
The fight against government corruption was one of the main campaign themes of Dr. Fernandez, and has traditionally been one of the main points of criticism by the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) and its founder, former President Juan Bosch, against the governments of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) and the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC). After 23 years as a party in opposition, the PLD gained the presidency on an anti-corruption campaign, and the expectations to eliminate “irregularities” in government are high.