Party Favors

If the Dominican Republic seeks to a more prosper nation it most eliminate the promise of government jobs for favors. Every four years the country has to endure new personel in government offices, this is habit that doesn't harms the country.

This practice prevents people from becoming experts at their jobs, does not allow for the most qualify person to be picked for the job, and it is a tremendous cost to the government to have to keep retraining people.

The government must put in place laws that will protect those that are in government jobs from being displaced just because of there political affiliation.

I am hopefull that one day, there will be a true President that will have the courage to put in place what dominicans today may consider controversial policies.

Not that it makes it right, but it seems to be the norm.

There is a professional civil service in the United States and political appointments are only to fill the top tiers of government. These party-appointed officials rely on professionally trained civil servants with decades of experience in their particular field--something sorely lacking in the Dominican Republic and, indeed, Latin America.

Of course all political parties hand out jobs when they take office, but this has reached disgusting levels in the DR. Party loyalist are made forrest rangers, for example, because these are lucrative positions (taking bribes to look the other way while some illegal logging goes on). The worst example is the PRD's 2x2 proposal whereby democraticly elected congressmen would step down halfway through their four year term in order to let someone else hold the spot, thus "doubling" the number of jobs to hand out. So much for government being representative of the people.

The bottom line is that government is seen as a treasure chest to be looted and not as an instrument to serve the nation. (I am not naive enough to believe this doesn't happen in the US and other countries, but we are taking about degrees of intensity and the problem is much, much worse in the DR).

My sister worked at the airport Gregorio Luperon in public relations. After Hipolito took over she didn't even bother to show up for work knowing that she would get fired soon. And so she was! Our mother worked in Leonel's campaign in 1996. I just hope they didn't change all the staff at the airport. It would be kind of scary to fly to POP with "fulanitos" in the air traffic control, just because their grandfather was a known member of the PRD

Stina

P.S. Just finished reading Mario Vargas Llosa's "La fiesta del chivo". Recommend it to everyone, to get a feeling how much the people on the RD have had to overcome.

I agree completely,plus the fact that this is a mentality that has ensued for over 500 years.

Where can I get a copy of the book La Fiesta Del Chivo?