2004 – Page 271

When questioned on the TV program “El Dia” about the possibility of electoral fraud, the head of state said: “I am convinced that nothing is going to happen. That phase has been overcome in this country, fortunately.” He mentioned that the government has allotted the Central Electoral Board a budget of RD$1.83 billion to organize …

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In a television interview yesterday, President Hipolito Mejia said he hoped the country would not fall into the hands of civil society, because, in his words, they were “only looking for employment.” Mejia gave the example of other Latin American countries such as Brazil and Peru, which had experimented with solutions to political crises by …

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Participacion Ciudadana, a leading civic society group, publishes a paid advertisement in the press alerting against the perils of the Ley de Lemas in Congress today. The organization highlights that the bill is impossible to implement with only four months to go before the election; violates articles 17, 49, 90, 91 and 119 of the …

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The dean of the School of Law of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra explains today in his contribution to El Caribe that the so-called Ley de Lemas (Law of Parties) boils down to a formula that would combine the votes of the leading PRD politicians against those of the single PLD candidate, Leonel …

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The Fuerza Nacional Progresista political party of lawyer Marino Vinicio (Vincho) Castillo and his son Deputy Pelegrin Castillo alerted today in a paid advertisement that what lies behind the Ley de Lemas proposal, only 126 days before election day, is a desperate plan in the face of the insurmountable advantage in the polls of the …

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The Central Electoral Board’s (JCE) independent monitoring committee, headed by Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, has come out strongly against the proposed Ley de Lemas. The implementation of the law could jeopardize the Presidential elections scheduled for 16 May, as well as violate the rights of the other parties’ Presidential candidates. The committee’s secretary, Radhames Mejia, …

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Hoy newspaper reports that Miguel Amado, the European Union’s ambassador in Santo Domingo, has offered the international community’s assistance in “smoothing the path towards clean and totally transparent elections.. He said that it was not just the JCE (central electoral board) that bore this responsibility, but every state institution, of which the JCE is a …

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The Chamber of Deputies approved nine loans for a total amount of US$382 million, as reported in El Caribe. The funds would be used to rehabilitate power lines, build a hydroelectric dam, and improve the communications system of the Armed Forces and the pluvial drainage system of Guajimia en Santo Domingo. The loans are being …

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Attorney General Victor Cespedes Martinez, in an effort to deflect responsibility, says the Comision de Indultos, the governmental commission in charge of pardoning sentences of those in jail, released Raul Martinez Medrano and that he was not aware the man had been condemned for 20 years for robbery and the kidnapping of banker Juan Francisco …

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The Listin Diario reported yesterday that the Public Health Ministry has begun to deliver to the public hospital due funds. Yesterday afternoon, administrators of the hospitals visited the financial manager of the ministry to receive certain allotments. The newspaper reported that the government is two to four months behind in making payments to the hospitals, …

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