Working into the late hours of 30 December, the Chamber of Deputies affirmed the US$600 million bond issue sought by the Mejia government to reduce its debts. The deputies did not read nor did they debate the document, which had first been approved by the Senate on 11 December.
Of 138 deputies present, 91 voted in favor, while 47 voted against, with the opposition coming chiefly from deputies of the PLD. Of the PRSC deputies, only six voted against the bill. These were Agnes Contreras, Victor Garcia Sued, Wellington Mejia, Hector Mora, Terrero Carvajal and Licelot Marte de Barrios.
Deputy Octavia Media, representing the province of Santo Domingo, was the only PRD delegate to not vote in favor.
The deputies had conditioned their approval of the bond issuance to the preceding senatorial approval of a bill to reform the governance of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), the body in charge of organizing the 2004 presidential elections. The senators passed the electoral reform bill on Wednesday, 31 December with the votes of 19 out of 22 senators, thereby cutting the powers of the JCE?s controversial president.
The bill now returns to the Presidency for its publication and legalization, after which the Ministry of Finance and the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency will need to determine when the bonds will be actually placed.
