Dissension within the ranks of the Santo Domingo Accord (ASD) bloc yesterday delayed yet again approval of the 1999 national budget. The ASD is the coalition between the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) and a collection of small parties. Yesterday closed-door negotiations were held for four hours in the offices of Senate President Ramón Alburquerque to try to remove obstacles to a Senate vote on a compromise accord worked out between a Congressional bicameral committee and budget officials of the government led by President Leonel Fernández. By all accounts, Budget Committee Chairman Fernando Alvarez Bogaert (Democratic Union – Valverde) is resisting all efforts by several Senators, led by Finance Committee Chairman Darío Gómez (PRD Santiago Rodríguez), to tinker with the distribution of public works and the government allowances given annually to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Many senators were upset that their provinces were not allotted more public works in the 1998 budget compromise. Despite the impasse, Senate Vice President Jesús Váquez Martínez (PRD María Trinidad Sánchez) and ASD spokesman Vicente Sánchez Baret (PRD Sánchez Ram’rez) assured reporters that the budget would be approved on Wednesday.
