The Chamber of Deputies passed the amendments to the Chamber of Accounts law that regulates the roles of its members. The Chamber of Accounts is in crisis after the five members have had serious differences that impede the passing of important documents.
The Chamber of Accounts is the government entity that audits government actions. The audits are needed to prosecute corruption.
The bill that passed in Congress calls for members of the Chamber of Accounts to be elected for four years, up from two years at present. It also grants more authority to the president of the entity.
The government party members in Congress have voted against the present Chamber of Accounts members and named a committee to advance the impeachment of the members opening the way for a new selection of members. Opposition party members say the government wants to appoint new members that would be lax with corruption in the present government. Polls say that President Luis Abinader is likely to be reelected for another four years in 2024.
Others say there have been no serious faults in the work of the Chamber of Accounts president Janel Ramirez and civic society member Mario Fernandez. The two members of the Chamber of Accounts have called for more transparency and for the plenary of the Chamber of Accounts to approve hiring of more auditors and the use of artificial intelligence to guarantee the quality of the audits that are politically sensitive.
The bill with the Chamber of Accounts was drafted by Felix Bautista (FP-San Juan de la Maguana). In 2018, Bautista was penalized with the US government’s Magnitsky denomination for corruption in office when he was a high-ranking officer in the Leonel Fernandez presidency. Transparency International ranked him among the most corrupt government officers in the world.
The amended bill now moves to the Presidency for enactment.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
US Embassy
27 July 2023