President Leonel Fernández has vetoed, as expected, the telecommunications bill passed by Congress amidst irregularities. The President has said he will submit a new bill, prepared with the consensus telecommunications, radio and television companies and the cooperation of the United Nations, when Congress meets again as of 27 February. President Fernández favors that investigations into allegations that the bill was falsified continue to determine if this was a criminal act. The bill sent to the Chamber of Deputies and later vetoed by President Fernández is different from the one approved at the session of the Senate when it was discussed. President of the Senate, Amable Aristy Castro met with Attorney General Abel Rodríguez del Orbe to discuss the issue. Spokesman for the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano in Congress, Miguel Berroa Reyes, said that the Senate is only guilty of negligence. Sources at the Attorney General’s office say that persons with important information on how the changes were made have disappeared. These include Paris Goico, director of the Fundación Legislativa del Senado, and the secretary of the President of the Senate, Carmen Ruiz.
