Patronage blamed for the "petty cash boxes"

[NewsWhore]

Patronage, a pervasive part of Dominican politics, has been blamed for the creation of the controversial "petty cash boxes" - large sums of money given to each Congress member for their discretional use. Constituents besiege legislators with requests for help with problems of every possible type: from burial expenses to new schools or water supplies. According to the Diario Libre newspaper, the situation got worse since the introduction of the preferential voting system, which increased the cost of winning an election. The newspaper says that the Constitution grants senators and deputies the role of legislation, not buying medicines, donating baby gift baskets, coffins, foodstuffs or pushing for the construction of some public work or other in their community. The report goes on to remind readers about the senators' salaries (RD$125,000 per month) and their per diem expense account. The senator from Santo Domingo gets RD$1,432,000 in his "petty cash box" for social assistance funds, while the senator from Pedernales gets RD$416,800. The sums are based on the number of voters in each province. Some senators feel that this money is not enough and are beginning to push for more funding. However, Senate president Reinaldo Pared Perez has warned that the Austerity Decree will prohibit any of this funding.

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