Original: Spanish
The Council of the Socialist International meeting in Geneva on 23 and 24 November 1998:
condemns the damage to the democratic process being inflicted by the present government of the Dominican Republic through its retention of the funds assigned by law to the Central Electoral Board, the body charged with preparing the elections due to take place in May 2000 to choose the next president of that country;
rejects the acts of bribery and threats that the government is carrying out against members of the national legislature and municipal councils with a view to controlling those bodies, and
expresses its concern at the attempts by the executive power to limit the independence of the judicial power by promoting the approval of an unconstitutional law which abolishes the permanent tenure of judges who deliver verdicts against the interests of the party in power.