Dominican Republic watchdog calls President’s backtracking ‘corruption’

Santo Domingo.- One of Dominican Republic’s most prominent watchdog groups on Monday railed against the ruling PLD party’s decision to amend the Constitution to let president Danilo Medina run for a second straight term.

The Dominican Anticorruption Alliance -Adocco- called the initiative announced by the PLD Political Committee in a resort at Juan Dolio “corruption” and an institutional step backwards.

It said given the weaknesses of the overseers to reign in domestic and external spending and the lack of a political parties law to establish penalties for those who divert taxpayers’ money toward the presidential candidate’s campaign.

Organization coordinator Julio Cesar de la Rosa called the president’s eventual reelection synonymous with corruption, since in his view can only be possible with the misuse of state funds.

He said proof of that are the actions by the "re-electionist” ministers headed by Public Works, Education, Industry and Commerce, Administration and the head of the State Works Supervisory Engineers Office, which jeopardize the opposition candidates. “While opposition candidates make campaign promises for when they reach the presidency, the candidate-president solves it at the expense of funds managed without control."

De la Rosa said it’s a shame that after Medina being a candidate and then as president repeatedly said he would never propose a constitutional amendment to include his reelection, has now changed that position.