Citizen Participation reiterates to pursue corruption of the current Government

The executive director of Citizen Participation, Fatima Lorenzo, reiterated today that for citizens to trust in the fight against corruption, the cases of the current government must be prosecuted.

“We in the balance report talked about 11 cases of corruption that were identified in this government. Some were cancelled, others were removed from their functions, but no progress has been made in the implementation of files,” said Lorenzo.

“It is not only about pursuing the corruption of past governments. It is necessary to prosecute the corruption that is taking place in the government at this moment. It is the only way to generate trust. It is the only way we will understand that justice is being administered at all levels,” said the executive director of Participación Ciudadana.

Interviewed on the program “La Súper 7 En La Mañana,” Fatima Lorenzo called for strengthening institutional procedures to curb corruption.

“From our perspective as an institution, we understand that it is not enough. There is still a lot of institutional procedures to be strengthened. First, to change a culture of corruption and lack of consequence that has undermined the institutionalism of the country. To generate trust in the citizens, precisely because the lack of consequences in the country was created as a norm in that sense,” said Lorenzo.

“That is to say; there is still a long way to go in this process, to generate confidence, that the cases are implemented at the level of justice. People need to understand that public officials who are now in the current government understand that corruption cannot be the norm. It is necessary to respect the procedures, to create a culture of respect for human rights, and for this the public institutions have to work,” she pointed out.

Reinforce
She warned that the mechanisms to fight corruption must be strengthened from public institutions outside the president’s decision.

“A culture of corruption, of impunity, cannot be fought from one day to the next. We must continue to strengthen the mechanisms at the level of institutions so that this is not a decision of a president,” said Fatima Lorenzo.

“But rather that there is the necessary legal framework that regardless of whoever is in charge of the State has to respect the procedures that the law establishes regarding the management of the State.”

“It is necessary to create mechanisms of consequence that can give a message to the citizenship that impunity will not continue to be the norm. That is fundamental,” Lorenzo said.

She valued that the Dominican Republic has advanced in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index from position 28 to 30.

“The small advance from 28 to 30 has a lot to do with the latest measures that have been taken in relation to the election of the Attorney General of the Republic, how the Chamber of Accounts was constituted, the Directorate of Procurement and Contracting. A series of measures that the government has been taking to guarantee to face the issue of corruption.”