The president of Brugal & Co., Franklin Baez Brugal in his keynote address on Tuesday, 3 November 2015 during the anniversary luncheon of the Dominican Republic Association of Industries (AIRD) at the Hotel Jaragua Renaissance called for more checks and balances in the Dominican political system to eradicate the “plague” of political patronage and to strengthen democracy. President Danilo Medina was present.
Speaking at the luncheon, Baez Brugal criticized that political parties have resisted to pass a Political Parties and Groups Bill so they can continue to exploit circumstances to hold on to power by making uncontrolled use of public and private resources without supervision. He said that political agreements and other similar recent events affect democracy and citizen’s right to vote and run for office.
“Politicians want to control, but do not want to be controlled. They seek to perpetuate their privileges to the detriment of those who give their vote,” he said. He mentioned cases abound of politicians who have risen from poverty to great wealth in the blink of an eye, as well as cases of business people who benefit from evading taxes and drug traffickers that enjoy impunity.
He observed that the judiciary, called upon to curb these excesses, languishes in obvious institutional weaknesses. “A country without a functioning and independent judiciary, that can act without political strings and that a country without capable, honest and accountable judiciary, is like a rudderless ship,” said the businessman.
“We are concerned that the judiciary change and play its role, that the Public Ministry and judges really assume their responsibilities without compromises with anyone. That it investigate and prosecute anyone who has violated the law, regardless of political connections or social relevance,” he observed.
He stressed that without justice, citizens are defenseless at the mercy of the ambition of the powerful, the greed of politicians and at the whim of offenders that are subject to a regime where impunity is the norm and punishment the exception. He observed a strong judiciary is the only vaccination able to control what he called the “corruption epidemic” that affects the Dominican Republic from time back.
He commented that another “hard truth to refute” is that the management of the funds collected by the state “is inefficient and lacking in transparency”.
He called for simplifying the tax system, expanding the base and rationalizing the exemptions. He insisted on more transparent, efficient and rational government spending. He said there are sectors that pay too much, while others are barely taxed. He said the Tax Pact contemplated in the National Development Strategy Law cannot continue to be postponed.
He also said that business sector is waiting for the ongoing discussions regarding the Electricity Pact, also called for in the National Development Strategy Law, to bear fruit for the electricity system that he mentioned at present is one of the obstacles to competitiveness in the country.
He observed that manufacturing 20 years ago generated 23.4% of the GDP, but by 2014 this has decreased to 14.4%. He said that the number of employment in the sector is also not satisfactory, because from 519,000 jobs in 2000, these jobs had declined to 411,000 in 2014.
Baez Brugal recognized the government’s efforts to improve education and invest for the first time 4% of GDP in pre-university education. “We welcome this, because we all know that the results in this area are not short-term,” he said. He noted, however, that improving educational quality teachers remains an “unfinished” task without which “all efforts would have no reason for being.”
During the luncheon, brothers Jose Miguel and Roberto Guerra received the “Award for Industrial Merit. The governmental Center for Development and Industrial Competitiveness (ProIndustria) was also recognized with an award for institutional support to the manufacturing sector.
Read more in Spanish:
http://acento.com.do/2015/video/galeria/8297173-franklin-baez-brugal-los-politicos-quieren-controlar-pero-no-quieren-ser-controlados/
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