NewsWhore
02-16-2012, 12:30 PM
Diario Libre reports that yesterday Wednesday February 15, the Dominican Conference of Bishops called on all Dominican citizens to vote in the elections of next 20 May. The Conference used the occasion of their pastoral letter for 27 February, Independence Day, to propose a Law of Electoral Campaigning, to condemn the use of illicit resources for financing campaigns and the legislators' failure to pass the Law on Political Parties, while expressing support for the planned debate between the candidates.
"The fact that certain companies are accustomed to providing large sums of money to leaders and political parties, for the purpose of having them on their side when they reach power is certainly worthy of attention, since this might be to avoid taxes or for the approval of laws that favor their investments unilaterally," was one condemnation from the Catholic prelates of the Conference, headed by Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez. "The Law of Political Parties...has been long awaited by Dominican society, and left for more than a decade outside of the congressional agenda; always announced, but always delayed. Where are the valiant legislators who will dare to break this prolonged episode of irresponsibility?" asked the bishops. The bishops proposed a Law of Electoral Campaigns, "which puts an end to the waste of resources in party politics and guides the financing (of the campaign)." They said that the corrupt practices of the illicit wealth created through politics were disheartening for the country's young people.
The pastoral letter, entitled "Fifty years of democratic elections and other questions," demands the placement of a ceiling on the election expenses and says: "The saturation in the use of propaganda in the media turns out to be counter-productive." The letter proposes, moreover, that the legal time or deadline for the proclamation of the election campaign should be no more than four months before the elections. The Church asked the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to continue providing proof of transparency and they reminded the Board that the people expect proof of trust from them.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
"The fact that certain companies are accustomed to providing large sums of money to leaders and political parties, for the purpose of having them on their side when they reach power is certainly worthy of attention, since this might be to avoid taxes or for the approval of laws that favor their investments unilaterally," was one condemnation from the Catholic prelates of the Conference, headed by Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez. "The Law of Political Parties...has been long awaited by Dominican society, and left for more than a decade outside of the congressional agenda; always announced, but always delayed. Where are the valiant legislators who will dare to break this prolonged episode of irresponsibility?" asked the bishops. The bishops proposed a Law of Electoral Campaigns, "which puts an end to the waste of resources in party politics and guides the financing (of the campaign)." They said that the corrupt practices of the illicit wealth created through politics were disheartening for the country's young people.
The pastoral letter, entitled "Fifty years of democratic elections and other questions," demands the placement of a ceiling on the election expenses and says: "The saturation in the use of propaganda in the media turns out to be counter-productive." The letter proposes, moreover, that the legal time or deadline for the proclamation of the election campaign should be no more than four months before the elections. The Church asked the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to continue providing proof of transparency and they reminded the Board that the people expect proof of trust from them.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)