• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 04 / 02 / 2011

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Five officials ousted in apparent corruption drive. A major shakeup occurred Friday in the Provincial Assembly of Sancti Spiritus province, when the Assembly's president resigned and the vice president was sacked "for indisciplines of a grave nature," the daily Granma reported Saturday.

In addition, three vice presidents of the Council of Provincial Administration and the director of the Budget Unit were removed "for abuses in their exercise of their posts and diversion of resources with intent to profit." Criminal charges will be pressed against all four, the newspaper said.

Assembly president Diana Companioni Blanco resigned, "although she had no direct implication in the deeds." She had held that post since April of last year.

Nevertheless, "she admitted her responsibility for not adequately heeding the warnings made about deficiencies in the [Assembly's] operations detected by the provincial government and for the lack of vigilance, exigency and control she should have exercised."

The "indisciplines" and "abuses" were not described.

Teresita Romero Rodríguez, head of the city of Sancti Spiritus' Municipal Assembly, was appointed the Provincial Assembly's vice president and acting president until a special session of the Provincial Assembly is called to elect a new president.

The Granma article stressed "the need for leaders to maintain discipline and act ethically in the performance of their duties," and said "there will be no impunity for any attitudes that affect the moral and ethics of the cadres."

Source: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2011/04