Officials and employees of the Interior and Police Ministry who say they were fired by the new minister, Pedro Franco Badía, have given him 48 hours to give them back their jobs. They warn that if he doesn’t, they will submit him to the PRD’s political committee and ask him to be expelled. The former Technical Secretary to the Presidency was moved to the Interior and Police Ministry last week in President Mejía’s cabinet shuffle. Since then, infighting among members of the PRD has increased, according to a report in Listín Diario. Eight under secretaries and other officials in the department rebelled last Thursday against Franco Badía, accusing him of replacing them with his own political sympathizers. Franco Badía has denied the accusation. He says he knows the law requires him first to obtain a decree from the Executive Branch before replacing under secretaries. Meanwhile, President Mejía said in Hoy newspaper today that he hasn’t signed any decree approving the firing.
