UN reform warning

[NewsWhore]

Dr. Cristobal Rodriguez, a constitutional specialist with the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), says the proposed constitutional reform would give the Dominican President "unlimited power" adding that the personal management of the state's resources by the President, as stipulated by the reform, could create a bureaucracy and a culture of potent clientilism. Rodriguez said that the nation's budget should, more or less, be a result of compromises between the executive and legislative branches. Rodriguez said the nation should make the most of the reform to grant Congress a larger role within the political framework and reduce the President's power. According to Rodriguez, this new constitution would give the President the power to authorize spending and transfer of funds through decrees when Congress is not in session. Rodriguez made his comments during a meeting with congressional representatives and constitutional experts. Senate president Reinaldo Pared Perez said that he welcomed the technical assistance provided by UNDP, while UNDP representative Mauricio Ramirez Villegas said that the UN does not want to interfere with the reform because it deals with the nation's sovereignty.

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