Senate bans presidential family from state contracts in new law

Santo Domingo.- The Dominican Senate approved the General Law on Public Contracts in its second reading on Tuesday. The new legislation prohibits the President, Vice President, and their family members from engaging in contracts with the State.

The law outlines various types of public contracting procedures, including public tendering, abbreviated public tendering, simplified contracting, lottery-based works, reverse auctions, and minor contracting subject to threshold limits.

A key feature of the law, introduced by Senate Vice President Faride Raful, is the abbreviated public tender, which allows for a shorter timeframe for procuring common and standardized goods and services. It also specifies contracting modalities or procedures based on the amount, purpose, and characteristics of the service.

The agreements resulting from the supplier selection process, managed and executed by the Directorate General of Public Procurement (DGCP), will set prices and delivery conditions for a defined period for frequently used goods and services by public institutions.

The law aims to strengthen the principles of the public procurement system, such as legality, inclusion, due process, objectivity, impartiality, planning, sustainability, favorability of national production, and local development. It also seeks to enhance the regulatory authority of the governing body, expand control measures for maximum transparency, and increase the sanctioning power of the Comptroller General of the Republic, along with reforming its internal structure.