According to a statement released to the press, the modifications recently sanctioned by the Head of State, Laurentino Cortizo, violate the Constitution by creating privileges and weakens the institutional framework for the prevention and punishment of public corruption.

The new law, they specified in this text, grants discretionary powers to the Comptroller General which will allow him to decide, without any counterweight, what to investigate or not to investigate.

This is a very dangerous concentration of power, which threatens the rule of law and democracy’, they warned.

The new law, according to this message, adds the concepts of ‘sound criticism’ and ‘good faith’, two principles alien to the auditing processes that should determine the correctness or otherwise of the use of public funds.

Among the groups that challenged this norm are the Centro de Iniciativas Democráticas, the Movimiento Ciudadano Anticorrupción and the Red Nacional de Jóvenes por la Transparencia, among others.

The groups also announced that in view of the clear violations to the Constitution in which this new law incurs, they will file legal actions.

In his first reaction to this growing rejection by society, Comptroller Gerardo Solis invited the organizations to talk and considered the differences as well intentioned and with noble purposes.

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