NewsWhore
06-26-2008, 02:10 PM
Last night, after a marathon five-hour meeting, Deputies unanimously recommended that judges Andres Terrero, Henry Mejia, Jose Altagracia Maceo, Julio de Bera, Jose Gregorio, Freddy Almonte Brito, Alcides Benjamin Decena, Luis Yepez Suncar and Juan Adalberto Lora should be put on trial for irregularities at the Chamber of Accounts (CA). The chamber is the government organization entrusted with auditing government departments.
Terrero, the president of the Chamber of Accounts is only being charged with "lack of leadership, transparency and communication". Hoy reports that 160 of the 161 Deputies present voted in favor of the trial. The judges will be tried for violations of articles 14, 24, 26, 28, 30, 40, 43 and 56 of Law 10-04. They will also be tried for violation of Law 41-08 and 449-06 on Contracting of Goods and Services and violation of the Austerity Law. Chamber of Deputies President Julio Cesar Valentin said that Andres Terrero's biggest weakness was that he was negatively influenced by the other CA judges. He added that some of the CA judges were good people who made bad mistakes. Senate President Reinaldo Pared Perez said that the Senate is ready to hear the trial of the accused judges. El Caribe puts the CA case in perspective and reports that the DR has only held two political trials since 1961, including the trial of a mayor, Manuel Antonio Jimenez Rodriguez in 1972 and Deputy Isidro Ramirez 1989. Both were removed from office.
Diario Libre editorializes today that Congress is missing the point when dealing with the Chamber of Accounts. It speculates that these members may be tried and fired, but there is nothing that impedes the new bunch from repeating all the same inefficiencies and irregularities. It is not only about changing the members for taking advantage of their posts, but should also be about strengthening the institutional side of the organization, writes the newspaper. "The problem is not about the chamber, or the accounts, it is that they need to be transparent," it concludes.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
Terrero, the president of the Chamber of Accounts is only being charged with "lack of leadership, transparency and communication". Hoy reports that 160 of the 161 Deputies present voted in favor of the trial. The judges will be tried for violations of articles 14, 24, 26, 28, 30, 40, 43 and 56 of Law 10-04. They will also be tried for violation of Law 41-08 and 449-06 on Contracting of Goods and Services and violation of the Austerity Law. Chamber of Deputies President Julio Cesar Valentin said that Andres Terrero's biggest weakness was that he was negatively influenced by the other CA judges. He added that some of the CA judges were good people who made bad mistakes. Senate President Reinaldo Pared Perez said that the Senate is ready to hear the trial of the accused judges. El Caribe puts the CA case in perspective and reports that the DR has only held two political trials since 1961, including the trial of a mayor, Manuel Antonio Jimenez Rodriguez in 1972 and Deputy Isidro Ramirez 1989. Both were removed from office.
Diario Libre editorializes today that Congress is missing the point when dealing with the Chamber of Accounts. It speculates that these members may be tried and fired, but there is nothing that impedes the new bunch from repeating all the same inefficiencies and irregularities. It is not only about changing the members for taking advantage of their posts, but should also be about strengthening the institutional side of the organization, writes the newspaper. "The problem is not about the chamber, or the accounts, it is that they need to be transparent," it concludes.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)