The indignation of a senator for not being able to receive internal information about the Law of domain extinction It was the straw that broke the camel’s back and questioned the level of transparency that the Senate of the Republic has.
management of the upper house has been wrapped in secrecy, qualification gained from the lack of delivery of information, the constant obstacles to journalists and the concealment of the management of the Senatorial Provincial Management Fund, popularly known as the “Little Barrel”.
Eduardo Estrella’s administration in the Senate has been marked by infrastructure works, both physically and technologically, including the implementation of an automated vote for “greater transparency”.
However, the legislator from Santiago has never shown interest in developing a platform under which the senators’ management of Barrilito is made transparent.
Only on one occasion did the Senate allow the entry of a journalist who divulged the content of hundreds of pages that had the expense invoices of these funds and after the publication, access has not been allowed again.
Several senators were consulted about the expenses they give to the Barrilito and the answer tends to be similar: boxes for the dead, medicine and in general “aid” to people in their province. However, none have taken the initiative to show monthly expenses in full they do with this millionaire fund.
Unanswered requests for information
The Senate, as a public entity that is part of the Dominican State, is subject to being questioned through requests for information granted by the Law 200-04 on Free Access to Public Information.
However, several requests made by journalists from Listín Diario have ended without a response and without consequence on the part of the entity in charge of governing the law.
Among the requests made that have not received a response, is the expense made by the Senate for the legislators’ trip to a hotel where the Penal Code bill was debated; funds given to legislators to be spent on the Mother’s dayas well as the delivery of cards or vouchers in December for activities usually carried out by congressmen in their respective provinces.
Unanswered requests made through the Single Request for Access to Public Information Portal (SAIP) remain desolate on the platform, with the response time granted by law with legends such as “Collecting information” and “Waiting for the Corresponding Department” .
Although it is not the majority of cases, the Senate reserves the right to grant information depending on what is being requested.
Limits on journalists and senators
On July 4, a commission led by the spokesman for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) in the Senate demanded from the Department of Coordination of Commissions, the minutes and audios of the bicameral commission that studied the domain extinction bill, documents that, according to the congressman himself, they refused to deliver.
Yván Lorenzo, PLD spokesman, accused the Senate of “kidnapping and manipulating” records of the domain forfeiture commission, alleging that he had been requesting the documents for several days to “disseminate them in public opinion”.
Along with that commission was a group of journalists who were prevented from entering the office and were described as a “mob of people” by employees of the upper house.
Another event occurred on June 23, when the senator of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), Faride Raful, prevented a colleague from her party from offering information to journalists about what was discussed in the bicameral commission for the forfeiture of domains by opening the room door abruptly, interrupting his statements and forcing him into the meeting and then calling an impromptu press conference.
In matters of transparency, the Senate still has pending debts and could imitate the actions of the Chamber of Deputies.
IN POINTS
obstacles.
The limits imposed on journalists in the Senate have been present since the first day of the administration, with signs such as the impediment to enter the chamber and certain areas; the lack of notice of visits to President Eduardo Estrella, who also has no interaction with the press.