As established in the Constitution, the Council's main responsibilities are to serve as an advisory body to the Executive Branch of the Dominican Republic about economic, social, and labor matters.
[9] These findings led to the establishment of national protest movement Green March which demanded transparency and an independent judicial investigation into the Punta Catalina bidding process.
Specifically, Green March leaders accused the commission led by CES of contravening the rule of law and assisting with the cover-up of criminal activity on behalf of the presidency of Danilo Medina and against the Dominican people.
[12] Two years later, in July 2019, a member of the CES-led commission revealed that bribery did take place during the approval of Odebrecht’s contract in the Dominican National Congress.
[14] The CES made their intentions to moderate the dialogue public after former Dominican president Hipolito Mejia proposed Monsignor Núñez Collado as a suitable mediator for the crisis.
According to critics, including members of opposition parties and demonstrators who took to the streets to protest the suspended elections, the CES's very nature as a government entity that operates under the Executive branch of the Dominican government, as well as it stated mission to promote dialogue on “economic, social, and labor matters”,[3] renders it ineligible to lead or mediate a dialogue meant to address electoral and political issues.
[16][17][18] Cacerolazo protests led by demonstrators from various social and political groups erupted on March 4, the first day of the dialogue, at the site of the meeting and CES headquarters in the administrative building of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in Santo Domingo.
[20][21] The dialogue continued on March 6, after an invitation was extended to representatives of the demonstrators to participate in the meeting as an observer and the internal impasse over the PRD's attendance was resolved.