NewsWhore
11-06-2009, 02:00 PM
Legislators from the PRD, PLD and PRSC are saying that modifications to Law 176-07 to increase the number of city council members needs to be sent to the Senate for greater scrutiny. Despite the fact that the bill was pushed through urgently after two quick readings, legislators from the three main parties are saying that the changes made to the law will not be applied immediately.
On Wednesday the Central Electoral Board (JCE) described the law as illegal, coming as it does less than a year before the 2010 congressional and municipal elections and would contribute to more gigantism in government. JCE president Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman said that the law could cause financial problems for the municipalities as well as for the political parties, the JCE and the municipal councils themselves.
Hoy newspaper consulted legislators including Minou Tavarez Mirabal, Rafael Calderon and Frank Martinez on the matter. Tavarez Mirabal (PLD) said that although she voted against the law, the JCE would have to look at it in detail since it changes what the board had organized for the elections.
PRD legislator Calderon said that the project should be studied further in the Senate, since he believed there were already too many council members and he did not think that the number should be based on the number of voters.
PRD delegate to the JCE, Virgilio Bello Rosa, told the newspaper that he was "totally in agreement with the JCE in the sense that you can't go around changing the law to favor private interests. If the law already established the number of council members assigned to each district, the only thing left to do is obey the law".
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
On Wednesday the Central Electoral Board (JCE) described the law as illegal, coming as it does less than a year before the 2010 congressional and municipal elections and would contribute to more gigantism in government. JCE president Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman said that the law could cause financial problems for the municipalities as well as for the political parties, the JCE and the municipal councils themselves.
Hoy newspaper consulted legislators including Minou Tavarez Mirabal, Rafael Calderon and Frank Martinez on the matter. Tavarez Mirabal (PLD) said that although she voted against the law, the JCE would have to look at it in detail since it changes what the board had organized for the elections.
PRD legislator Calderon said that the project should be studied further in the Senate, since he believed there were already too many council members and he did not think that the number should be based on the number of voters.
PRD delegate to the JCE, Virgilio Bello Rosa, told the newspaper that he was "totally in agreement with the JCE in the sense that you can't go around changing the law to favor private interests. If the law already established the number of council members assigned to each district, the only thing left to do is obey the law".
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)