The Senate of the Republic received a bill sent by the Executive Branch that has the objective of create a system of integrity and transparency to avoid corruption within government institutions.
The letter sent to the Upper House by the president Luis Abinader explained that the General Directorate of Ethics and Government Integrity would be abolished, to become the Directorate of Integrity, Transparency and Government Ethics.
But what would be the difference in the objective of these two government structures?
The current director of the Ethics Directorate, Milagros Ortiz Boschexplains that the Government’s intention is to create a new institution with the power to be autonomous and decentralized, thus obtaining a “financial and administrative capacity that it does not have” at the present.
In addition, the proposed law also contemplates the addition of responsibilities and powers. Among which is the power to adopt measures that punish or induce the duty of compliance of officials of entities of the Executive Branch.
For this, the Government developed an administrative sanctioning regime that would allow the new institution to remove temporarily disqualified public employees from office. to hold positions in the State for up to five years and impose a fine of up to 30 minimum wages for committing serious offenses.
Likewise, it would give the new Ethics Directorate the power to order the suspension for up to 60 days, without payof the exercise of functions of officials, written reprimands publicly or privately, among other financial penalties.
The faults in the legislative initiative range from the malicious leak or disclosure of personal data or the identity of a protected whistleblower, intentional concealment of relevant public information, destruction, manipulation or alteration of evidence during an investigation.
In addition, repeated non-compliance with the resolutions issued by the Ethics Directorate, participation in decisions while involved in an undeclared conflict of interest, non-compliance with the obligation of confidentiality, unauthorized international transfer of personal data and participation in public decision processes with personal or family interests, among others.
The piece also identifies as a violation the failure to provide information requested by citizens, using the offices Free Access to Public Informationnot releasing public data in open formats and the “failure to deliver public information without justified cause.”
The incumbent Ortíz Bosch reported that the proposal for the new regulatory framework includes the protection of personal data and the safeguarding of them, since, as she said, “The complainant must be protected by the State.”
“It creates a system of integrity and transparency, it is no longer isolated measures, it is a system that creates a vision, a way of working together. To fulfill the mission of promoting public transparency, preventing corruption and guaranteeing access to information,” he told reporters while in the Senate.
Cannot be removed
If it is converted into law by the National Congressthe incumbent who heads the new institution must be appointed by the President of the Republic for a period of four years, with the possibility of being maintained for a second consecutive period, without being able to be removed from his position before concluding the term of his mandate.
