NewsWhore
07-14-2009, 03:30 PM
Despite all the laws, government anti-corruption offices and all its promises, the government has yet to act against corruption. Indeed, the DR is at its lowest point ever when it comes to controlling corruption, according to the World Bank 2009 World Wide Governance Indicators (WGI), ranking in at a record low of 31.9% compared to Costa Rica's 70% and Chile 85%.
With matters getting out of control, today's Diario Libre newspaper quotes political scientists who urge national support to spur government to do a turn-around in its laissez-faire approach to corruption, arguing that political will has been missing to stop corruption.
"We are in a very critical situation, therefore, society should stand together to challenge corruption because it creates an imbalance between the political parties and is an attempt to damage Dominican democracy," stressed political scientist and lawyer Pedro Catrain. In his judgment, the state has only served as a machine for patronage, and government never bothers to apply consequences to proven corruption.
Catrain told reporters that he believed that the leading PLD and PRD parties have a covert immunity pact that allows either of the two to overlook indiscretions of corruption made by the other while in government. Catrain predicted that the situation could become unmanageable and fall into the hands of drug traffickers, who could enter the parties' political campaigns.
According to sociologist Francisco Cueto, "We have to go beyond words, beyond intentions; we have to take action, since there is a great deal of permissiveness when it comes to the use of state resources."
He specified that despite the corruption cases that have been exposed to the public by the leading investigative journalists, there has been little response from government spheres, which puts a lack of political will into evidence.
"In the Dominican Republic, throughout its history, we have accepted that the state is the domain of whoever is in government, and in this sense government doesn't need to give any answers to the real owner, the true owner, which is the citizenry," he said.
Rector of the UASD state university and noted jurist Garcia Fermin said that corruption is restricting the country's development and progress.
"I think that we have to begin a national moralization campaign because we cannot continue down this road, since it is not possible for people who were poor when becoming government bureaucrats to be converted into great potentates today," he pointed out.
Garcia Fermin believes that the damage done to the public treasury should be pursued, denounced and the guilty sent to court.
He complained of the fact that "It is not possible that there are dozens of case files on corruption and these remain in the drawers of the authorities. This is not possible! This country cannot tolerate a situation like this with so much impunity."
The government has failed to punish those signaled out with ample proof that has been aired to the general public, such as the more recent Bellas Artes construction scandal, the Sun Land contract scandal, the PRA, OTT, CDEEE and INDRHI scandals exposed by investigative journalists Alicia Ortega, Nuria Piera and Huchi Lora.
http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.asp
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
With matters getting out of control, today's Diario Libre newspaper quotes political scientists who urge national support to spur government to do a turn-around in its laissez-faire approach to corruption, arguing that political will has been missing to stop corruption.
"We are in a very critical situation, therefore, society should stand together to challenge corruption because it creates an imbalance between the political parties and is an attempt to damage Dominican democracy," stressed political scientist and lawyer Pedro Catrain. In his judgment, the state has only served as a machine for patronage, and government never bothers to apply consequences to proven corruption.
Catrain told reporters that he believed that the leading PLD and PRD parties have a covert immunity pact that allows either of the two to overlook indiscretions of corruption made by the other while in government. Catrain predicted that the situation could become unmanageable and fall into the hands of drug traffickers, who could enter the parties' political campaigns.
According to sociologist Francisco Cueto, "We have to go beyond words, beyond intentions; we have to take action, since there is a great deal of permissiveness when it comes to the use of state resources."
He specified that despite the corruption cases that have been exposed to the public by the leading investigative journalists, there has been little response from government spheres, which puts a lack of political will into evidence.
"In the Dominican Republic, throughout its history, we have accepted that the state is the domain of whoever is in government, and in this sense government doesn't need to give any answers to the real owner, the true owner, which is the citizenry," he said.
Rector of the UASD state university and noted jurist Garcia Fermin said that corruption is restricting the country's development and progress.
"I think that we have to begin a national moralization campaign because we cannot continue down this road, since it is not possible for people who were poor when becoming government bureaucrats to be converted into great potentates today," he pointed out.
Garcia Fermin believes that the damage done to the public treasury should be pursued, denounced and the guilty sent to court.
He complained of the fact that "It is not possible that there are dozens of case files on corruption and these remain in the drawers of the authorities. This is not possible! This country cannot tolerate a situation like this with so much impunity."
The government has failed to punish those signaled out with ample proof that has been aired to the general public, such as the more recent Bellas Artes construction scandal, the Sun Land contract scandal, the PRA, OTT, CDEEE and INDRHI scandals exposed by investigative journalists Alicia Ortega, Nuria Piera and Huchi Lora.
http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.asp
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)