The ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) majority Senate had voted on Monday, 3 April 2020 to extend for another 25 days the State of Emergency in the country, established by Decree 134-20, that expires on 13 April 2020. Dissident senators of the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) requested that this be kept until 30 April and that new controls on government procurement be installed.
When the bill was heard in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday, 9 April, the deputies voted to modify the Senate resolution only through 30 April. The bill then returned to the Senate, which passed it on Saturday, 11 April with the State of Emergency now extended through 30 April. According to the resolution, as long as the conditions exist, President Danilo Medina can continue to request further extensions.
The government is now given another 17 days. The State of Emergency curtails the right of transit in the country, but also enables the government to circumvent normal controls on procurement. This past week two major scandals revealed widespread irregularities and corruption in government purchases centered at purchases signed on to by the National Institute of Comprehensive Care for Early Childhood (Inaipi) and the National Health Service (SNS). In the first case, the director of Inaipi resigned and her staff was fired. In the second case, the SNS announced the cancelation of over RD$2 billion in government procurement for medical equipment and supplies.
Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
Diario Libre
El Nacional
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
13 April 2020