Leaders of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) held a meeting with its senators yesterday and asked them to be more flexible about passing Executive Branch proposals for loans and laws. The 2?-hour meeting was held in the offices of Senate President Ram?n Alburquerque (PRD-Monte Plata), although he did not attend because he is traveling abroad. PRD President Enmanuel Esquea Guerrero led the meeting, along with PRD Presidium members Tony Raful, Vicente S?nchez Baret, Ivelisse Prats de P?rez and ex-President Salvador Jorge Blanco. Although the Presidium members refused to talk to the press afterwards, one of the senators attending it told the news daily El Siglo off-the-record that the senators were urged to "be more flexible" about approving certain measures, especially those considered important for the development and modernization of the country. Among the measures mentioned by the source include the anti-corruption package just sent up to Congress by President Fern?ndez last week, as well as a US$10 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to help five provinces.In a related story, in joint hearings yesterday, the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and External Public Debt Committees, Senators Dar?o G?mez (PRD-Santiago Rodr?guez) and Enrique L?pez (PRD-Monse?or Nouel), respectively, declared yesterday that they could not recommend approval of a loan agreement with the Banco Espa?a under its present terms. They object to a clause in the loan agreement which would allow the bank to impose a 1% penalty for every day the DR is late in making its payments. The Senators call the clause "excessive."
