The Senate has begun the selection process to choose the five members of the Chamber of Accounts (CCRD). The Chamber of Accounts is the government entity in charge of auditing government operations. At the close of the applications’ deadline, the media reports that lawyer Aura Celeste Fernández and Participacion Ciudadana long time member Cándido Mercedes have applied.
They could well be included in the pre-selected 15 persons that the legislative committee will present for a vote first in the Chamber of Deputies and then in the Senate. Reports are that their candidacies will not be opposed by the leadership of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), the People’s Force party (FP) and the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD).
The deputies will vote to pre-select fifteen people. Once this decision has been made, it is up to the Senate to choose the five people who will make up the institution that audits the use of public funds. Of these five people, one will be elected to chair the CCRD.
In the case of Cándido Mercedes and Aura Celeste Fernández, both have a “presidential profile” for the purposes of the Chamber of Accounts, according to a person who has been closely following the conversations between the political parties and the Senate.
Aura Celeste Fernández was a judge in the Central Electoral Board (JCE) that ended with the highest rated performance. She is married to the president of Al Pais, former prosecutor and presidential candidate Guillermo Moreno.
More than 400 have applied for the five positions at the Chamber of Accounts.
Over the past two decades or more, the Chamber of Accounts has been known for its complacency with government spending. The intention this time around is to elect officials that will have independence of criteria so the Chamber of Accounts can carry out its true role in government.
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Chamber of Accounts law
26 October 2020