As scandals rock Dominican Republic’s Foreign Service, minister ‘hails’ change

Santo Domingo.- Foreign minister Carlos Morales on Monday lauded the Government’s decision to solve his department’s ballooned payroll and paid cronies, in the wake of a series of scandals that have rocked Dominican Republic’s Foreign Service.

He called Administrative minister Jose R. Peralta’s announcement "positive news" and a pending Government issue and concerned him as the country’s top diplomat.

Morales noted that in March, 2011 then president Leonel Fernández submitted a bill to Congress -which didn’t approve it and expired after the second legislature that year- which he affirms sought to deal with the Foreign Service’s shortcomings, especially the many cronies who get paid without doing any work.

He said he expects the passing of a new law would improve the Foreign Service, since in his view, the current legislation in effect since 1964 is outdated.

The decades-long scandals over the Foreign Ministry’s ballooned payroll exploded last week, when local media reported on the more than 20 vice consuls just in New York, while Dominican Today quoting a source in the U.S. Government, that Washington has yet to accredit the consuls in New York and Boston, for being U.S. citizens.