Santo Domingo.- The Secretary of Legal Affairs of the Fuerza del Pueblo party, Raúl Martínez, pointed out that the recent appointment of Mr. Carlos Pimentel as Executive Director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships is illegal, since decree no. 614-2024 that provides for this appointment maintains him as head of the General Directorate of Public Contracting.
Martínez warned that one of the requirements demanded by law for the exercise of the function of Executive Director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships is that he cannot hold any other position or employment of any nature, with the exception of teaching activity. “Article 19.6 of Law no. 47-20 couldn’t be clearer. The role of Executive Director of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships It is exclusive dedication. It matters little that he gives up receiving the salary of Director of Public Procurement. Mr. Carlos Pimentel cannot perform both functions simultaneously.”
He added that “it is inconceivable that it is intended to entrust these roles to the same person, since the General Directorate of Public Contracting is responsible for supervising the suitability of those contracting processes for goods and services carried out by the Executive Directorate of the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships. “So, we would have the same official on both sides of the table.”
Read: Carlos Pimentel defends legality in new position and will preserve both positions, clarifies
The senior leader of the party headed by former president Leonel Fernández recalled that the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 47-20, is an autonomous and decentralized entity of the State, which has legal personality and its own assets (article 5) and that manages resources from the General Budget of the State (article 10), corresponding to the Executive Director the administration of the resources of the institution, in accordance with article 9, literal “f”, of the aforementioned Law no. 47-20.
“This means that the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships can carry out public contracts that are subject to the control and supervision of the General Directorate of Public Contractsso Mr. Pimentel would have the power to evaluate the management of the same processes he manages, something that is unusual.”
Furthermore, the head of the Secretariat of Legal Affairs of Fuerza del Pueblo highlighted that the General Directorate of Public Contracting is already part of the National Council of Public-Private Partnerships, by express provision of article 15.5 of Law no. 47-20, being responsible for issuing technical opinions regarding the design and structuring of the competitive processes conducted by the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships. “Consequently, the illegal appointment of the General Director of Public Contracting as head of the Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships represents the annihilation of the control and supervision functions that the Directorate of Public Contracting is called upon to fulfill with respect to the competitive processes directed by the Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships, a true absurdity.”
The opposition leader regretted that the Government of the Modern Revolutionary Party attacks the institutional design and control systems for the management of public funds that are established in Dominican laws, warning that this attitude demonstrates the PRM’s lack of commitment to the values of transparency and efficiency in the management of resources that belong to all Dominicans.
