Julio Mar??ez Rosario (PRD) yesterday denied accusations of impropriety leveled against him by Senator Amable Aristy Castro (PRSC – Altagracia), his rival for the post of Secretary-General (SG) of the Dominican Municipal League (LMD). On Monday Aristy Castro told reporters that auditors have found an "administrative mess" and evidence of "real mischief" in the LMD retirement and pension plan during the prior administration of Mar??ez, and that he would ask the authorities to prevent Mar??ez from leaving the DR until a full corruption investigation could be conducted. In an interview yesterday with the afternoon daily Ultima Hora, Mar??ez dismissed the charges as an attempt by Aristy Castro to discredit him and his lieutenants because the Senator fears he will lose the pending court case on the legality of Aristy Castro’s election to the SG post. Mar??ez declared that Aristy Castro "can check with a magnifying glass" but he would not find anything illegal about the way the retirement and pension plan was handled under the prior administration.In a related story, Interior and Police Minister Ram?n Andr?s Blanco Fern?ndez announced yesterday that he has launched an investigation of Mar??ez’s administration of LMD because evidence has surfaced that the League was paying several "advisors" who never did any work for their pay.Two parallel municipal assemblies were held on January 26th which elected Aristy Castro and Mar??ez Rosario as LMD SG, both after making dubious rule changes. [It should be noted that Minister Blanco Fern?ndez presided over the assembly that elected Aristy Castro, and he swore the Senator in as the new SG.] A case now pending in the courts which decide which, if either, of the elections was legal and who should be SG. The LMD dispute is not only important as a source of constant friction between PRD and the PLD-led Government (which helped Aristy Castro get elected as LMD SG), but also because the LMD is the official conduit for the portion of the national budget earmarked for use by municipalities.
