President Luis Abinader advocated once more for an independent and autonomous justice system and a state with checks and controls. President Abinader was voted President when the majority of the population rejected corruption and impunity in the long-standing governments of the Dominican Liberation Party that had been consecutively in office since 2004.
Giving the keynote speech during the opening of the V Dialogue of the Public Integrity Network in Latin America, organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) together with the Ethics and Government Integrity Agency of the Abinader Administration (DIGEIG), Abinader stressed that actions to instate integrity in government are “revolutionary.” The statement was made at a time when local media is following many cases of alleged corruption in the new administration, at the same time the justice investigates corruption in the past administrations.
Speaking at the event, Abinader said that he took over the country more than a year ago in one of the worst conditions and with institutions affected by their credibility.
He added that serious governments need to address this issue from three key points: credibility, good practices, and defined objectives. Abinader said that it is essential to respect the autonomy and independence of all institutions involved in the governance of the country.
“We must always defend and fight for a rabidly independent and autonomous justice system, for external and internal control of the accounts of the state, through transparent audits and create mechanisms for citizen control so that they are involved in the daily activity of the institutions,” he said.
He said that in terms of good practices, it is necessary to discuss and implement all those methods that allow for more efficiency, transparency and participatory actions in government.
President Abinader pointed out that in the case of the Dominican Republic, through the Ethics and Government Integrity (DIGEIG), numerous initiatives have been implemented that link all levels of government.
“A good example of this is our transparency portal, where anyone can access information on public contracts, tenders, salaries, plans. Everything is there, because there is nothing to hide,” he emphasized.
In the activity, whose central theme is transparency, integrity and participation in the digital era, the President said that if all these elements are combined, the credibility of institutions will increase exponentially and their actions will be better supported by the society they serve.
The IDB forum concludes on 17 November 2021. The country will define the details of an investment program with the IDB to advance reforms that will help strengthen and consolidate its integrity mechanisms in the public procurement system.
The event was attended by former Vice President Milagros Ortiz Bosch, who is the director of the DIGEIG; Katharina Falkner-Olmo, newly appointed IDB representative in the country; Roberto de Michele and Juan Cruz Vieyra, specialists in modernization of the state, and Fernando Quevedo, IDB representative. IDB is providing financial and technical support to the Abinader administration agenda of integrity and transparency. Also present was Carlos Pimentel, director of the Procurement Agency (DGCP); Pavel Isa, Vice Minister of Economy, Planning and Development; Catalino Correa, Comptroller General of the Republic.
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17 November 2021