1998News

Irregular congressional session a flop

President of the Chamber of Deputies, Rafael Peguero Méndez, whose call to deputies to attend an off-schedule congressional session to study the presidential veto of the telecommunications bill, the bill that increases military pensions and the bill that reduces the tax on airline tickets, did not receive the necessary support. Of 120 legislators, only 34 showed up, most members of the Acuerdo de Santo Domingo, and only one representing the PRSC, José Tatis Gómez, deputy for Montecristi. Peguero Méndez closed the session as there was not enough quorum to study the observations. To override a veto, 80 of the 120 deputies have to be present. The leader of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, Dr. José Francisco Peña Gómez had asked Peguero Méndez to not hold the session.