2001 – Page 47

Francisco Dominguez Brito, a former district attorney and now president of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (Finjus), appealed to President Hipolito Mejia not to allow politics to prevail in the selection of the three new Supreme Court judges. In an open letter published in the El Caribe newspaper, Dominguez warned that PRD politicians want …

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Legal and civic society groups have formed a Coalition for Independent Justice to lobby against politics being used in the choice of three judges for the Supreme Court. President of the PRD party, Hatuey de Camps, has said that the choice of the new judges was negotiated with former President Joaquin Balaguer, leader of the …

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The President of the Supreme Court, Jorge Subero Isa, told the Listin Diario yesterday that if the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) chooses politically-inclined judges to replace the three missing Supreme Court Justices it would affect not only the judiciary’s independence but also economic stability. He said he does not think this will happen …

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El Siglo political analyst Orlando Gil says that the government move to question former President Leonel Fernandez is but a “political show.” He writes that if the government really wanted to investigate irregularities in office, calling two or three government officers would have been enough. “By convening the most important members of the past administration, …

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On the same issue, El Caribe newspaper comments on the coincidence of the corruption prevention office (Depreco) convening only two days before the selection of the new judges. “Many see the Depreco move (to question Fernandez) as a smoke screen to distract the attention away from the selection of the Supreme Court judges so that …

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Hoy newspaper reports that the dollar has stabilized on the exchange market. Freddy Ortiz, President of the Dominican Association of Foreign Exchange Remittance Companies (Aderidi), said there is an abundance of dollars on the market because importers are demanding less. “We have enough dollars in the market; now what we have to determine is whether …

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Felix Sanchez is the DR’s sole competitor in the 400-meter hurdle in the Goodwill Games being held in Brisbane, Australia. Sanchez joins some 1,300 other athletes competing in 14 sports and chasing a collective prize pool of US$5 million. For more information, see http://www.goodwillgames.com

The Dominican Republic team passed to the second round of the XI Female World Youth Volleyball Championships at the Palacio de los Deportes in Santo Domingo and Santiago. The standings as of Monday, 3 September were: Group A Italy 3-0 DR 2-1 Algiers 1-2 Venezuela 0-3 Group B Turkey 3-0 Argentina 1-2 Croatia 2-1 Cuba …

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President Hipolito Mejia has authorized the US$500 million in sovereign bonds for development projects. Luis Gonzalez Fabra, spokesman for the Presidency, said that a commission headed by Industry and Commerce Minister Hugo Guilliani Cury and economist Andres Dauhajre has gone to the US for this purpose.

The Technical Secretary of the Presidency Rafael Calderon said that it’s one thing to approve a government loan, another to release it. In an interview with Hoy newspaper he said politics more than real concern lies behind the analysis of the debt passed by Congress. “We are fully aware of how delicate the matter is …

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