An Internet story regarding a United Nations survey that asked for an ?honest opinion? concerning a crisis gives cause for a chuckle. While several nations are poked fun at, the punch line is that the Dominican Congress was still debating what the term ?honest? meant. Today?s headlines in El Caribe newspaper seem to bear this out. Yesterday, the Senate took a vote and decided against an audit of the Chamber of Accounts. This vote leaves Senator Tonty Rutinel (PRD-Province of Santo Domingo) virtually alone in his fight against corruption in the government?s accounting office. In spite of a favorable vote from the special commission that was looking into the issue, the Senate voted not to carry out the audit. The vote was taken after heated debates in which Rutinel presented fresh evidence to support the alleged irregularities, accused the President of being a ?liar? and told his colleagues that they had committed a crime by ratifying the current members of the Chamber of Accounts. According to Hoy newspaper, Rutinel said that although the President had called the members of the Chamber of Accounts ?thieves,? he continued to present them as possible candidates for the posts they held. The senator from Santo Domingo added that the President ?deceived? him after he had met with Mejia on 13 separate occasions to express his concerns about the Chamber. Only 8 of the 24 senators present voted in favor of the audit: Jesus Vasquez (PRD-Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Tonty Rutinel (PRD-Santo Domingo), Dagoberto Rodriguez (PRD-Independencia), Vicente Castillo (PRD-Peravia), Ramom Alburquerque (PRD-Monte Plata), Celeste Gomez (PRD-Santiago Rodriguez), German Castro (PRSC-La Altagracia) and Manuel Ramirez Perez (PRD-Elias Pina). Several of the legislators attacked the commission report and criticized Senator Rutinel?s attitude. There were lawmakers from Puerto Plata, Valverde, and La Romana present who said the Senate did not have the authority to ask for an audit nor did it have the authority to even accuse the Chamber of Accounts of irregularities. Senator Rutinel, the chairman of the Modernization Commission of the Chamber of Accounts, maintained that he had been deceived by President Mejia and that for the last six months Mejia has been receiving complaints of abnormalities in the Chamber of Accounts. Rutinel gave Senate leader Jesus Vasquez two cassette tapes, reportedly containing the voice of Chamber of Accounts head Maximo Castillo, which confirmed the accusations, and various documents to support his case. With the Senate vote deciding not to take action, however, Rutinel?s efforts appear to have been in vain.
Money for the program questioned by Rutinel was supplied by the Inter American Development Bank. Press comments have indicated that if the IDB does not publicly come forth publicly questioning the use of the funds, the institution would be considered an accomplice in the widespread corruption that has taken place in the Chamber of Accounts, as per the preliminary audit results presented by Senator Rutinel.