NewsWhore
02-03-2009, 05:10 PM
The government says that it will only fulfill proposals from the National Summit that are economically applicable this year.
This was revealed yesterday by the coordinator of the Summit for National Unity, Temistocles Montas, when he was quizzed by reporters from Diario Libre at the Presidential Palace on his way to the first meeting of the governmental team that is attending the event.
"We really need to know which proposals the government can start discussing (today) in order to determine which can be undertaken as an obligation by the government and which merit a greater level of debate and which we think are not at all applicable for this year," said Montas.
At yesterday's meeting, they began sifting through the issues tackled by all the working groups on Friday and Saturday. The aim is to draw up a list of proposals for presentation to the President tomorrow. Government officials, including Education Minister Melanio Paredes, of Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda, are meeting again at the Presidential Palace's Caryatid Hall at 10am today to finish working on the list of issues that could be undertaken by the government.
The Fernandez administration, which convened and organized the summit, want to arrive at phase two of the get together that is supposed to begin on this Friday, 6 February, at a stage where they can take on the obligations that came from the different participating sectors.
According to information from official sources, more than 700 proposals came out of last week's debates.
Earlier, during a television program, Montas said that there are three big problems that need to be confronted within the framework of the summit, one of which is the country's per capita income, currently ten times less than in the United States and seven times less than that of Spain. The second is income distribution and the third is institutionalism.
Montas defined the first phase of the summit meeting between the industrial, commercial and banking sectors as "completely successful." He said, "I think the event has surpassed the organizers' expectations, as well as proving that there is a great interest from all sectors of the nation to reach agreements that will help the Dominican Republic work its way out of this crisis the best way possible."
Despite the fact that the Fernandez government called the first phase of the summit in order to deal with immediate plans to counter the effects of the international crisis, the working groups came up with proposals that were long-term in their scope and with permanent effects.
Moreover, Montas left this possibility open when he promised to begin the constitutional review assembly after the end of the first phase.
The group that discussed the issues of territorial development, municipal management and the environment came up with a proposal to transform the Dominican Municipal League; the group working on the frontier and migration touched on the difficult question of defining citizenship through blood (jus sanguinis), and achieved a consensus that a new immigration law was needed.
On the issue of institutional consolidation three new laws were suggested: one to create a Judicial Police, one to establish a four-year term of office for the Attorney General and one to regulate political parties, a suggestion that arose during the last electoral process.
The title "Summit of National Unity in the Face of the World Economic Crisis" encompasses the debate on what action the country should undertake to protect itself with the effect that will be felt and are being felt as a result of the collapse of the world's biggest economies.
President Leonel Fernandez's inaugural speech, the previous summit held in November and the invitation to this dialogue that was extended by former Inter-American Development Bank president Enrique Iglesias helped to shape the convocation.
The central message is that the headaches that are expected, such as massive job losses, reduced investments and decreased remittances, mean that all sectors need to support the government in the search for solutions.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
This was revealed yesterday by the coordinator of the Summit for National Unity, Temistocles Montas, when he was quizzed by reporters from Diario Libre at the Presidential Palace on his way to the first meeting of the governmental team that is attending the event.
"We really need to know which proposals the government can start discussing (today) in order to determine which can be undertaken as an obligation by the government and which merit a greater level of debate and which we think are not at all applicable for this year," said Montas.
At yesterday's meeting, they began sifting through the issues tackled by all the working groups on Friday and Saturday. The aim is to draw up a list of proposals for presentation to the President tomorrow. Government officials, including Education Minister Melanio Paredes, of Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda, are meeting again at the Presidential Palace's Caryatid Hall at 10am today to finish working on the list of issues that could be undertaken by the government.
The Fernandez administration, which convened and organized the summit, want to arrive at phase two of the get together that is supposed to begin on this Friday, 6 February, at a stage where they can take on the obligations that came from the different participating sectors.
According to information from official sources, more than 700 proposals came out of last week's debates.
Earlier, during a television program, Montas said that there are three big problems that need to be confronted within the framework of the summit, one of which is the country's per capita income, currently ten times less than in the United States and seven times less than that of Spain. The second is income distribution and the third is institutionalism.
Montas defined the first phase of the summit meeting between the industrial, commercial and banking sectors as "completely successful." He said, "I think the event has surpassed the organizers' expectations, as well as proving that there is a great interest from all sectors of the nation to reach agreements that will help the Dominican Republic work its way out of this crisis the best way possible."
Despite the fact that the Fernandez government called the first phase of the summit in order to deal with immediate plans to counter the effects of the international crisis, the working groups came up with proposals that were long-term in their scope and with permanent effects.
Moreover, Montas left this possibility open when he promised to begin the constitutional review assembly after the end of the first phase.
The group that discussed the issues of territorial development, municipal management and the environment came up with a proposal to transform the Dominican Municipal League; the group working on the frontier and migration touched on the difficult question of defining citizenship through blood (jus sanguinis), and achieved a consensus that a new immigration law was needed.
On the issue of institutional consolidation three new laws were suggested: one to create a Judicial Police, one to establish a four-year term of office for the Attorney General and one to regulate political parties, a suggestion that arose during the last electoral process.
The title "Summit of National Unity in the Face of the World Economic Crisis" encompasses the debate on what action the country should undertake to protect itself with the effect that will be felt and are being felt as a result of the collapse of the world's biggest economies.
President Leonel Fernandez's inaugural speech, the previous summit held in November and the invitation to this dialogue that was extended by former Inter-American Development Bank president Enrique Iglesias helped to shape the convocation.
The central message is that the headaches that are expected, such as massive job losses, reduced investments and decreased remittances, mean that all sectors need to support the government in the search for solutions.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)