It couldn’t have come in handier for President Leonel Fernández. An Argentine journalist covering the presidential summit in Santiago de Chile, interested in obtaining the opinion of the Dominican statesman on re-election (President Menem seeks to reform the Argentinean Constitution to allow re-election), asked President Fernández to comment on re-election in Latin America. President Fernández has avoided the topic, a touchy one as the constitutional reform of 1996 prohibited presidential re-election in the Dominican Republic, but it is apparent he would like to be re-elected, too. His answer to the Argentinean journalist made the front page headlines in Santo Domingo over the weekend. President Fernández said that in these days of strengthened democracies in the Americas it is the people themselves who should determine if a president has done a good job by voting for his re-election or for an opposition candidate. Fernández said that there is a trend to reform Constitutions in Latin America to permit re-election. Presidents Carlos Menem of Argentina, Alberto Fujimori of Peru, Fernando Enrique Cardoso of Brazil and Panama Ernesto Pérez Balladares seek to reform the Constitutions in their countries to permit re-election. "In my country indefinite re-election existed, but an irregular situation that arose in 1996, brought about an amendment of the Constitution radically prohibiting re-election," explained Fernández. He said that re-election is not on the government’s agenda. But he reiterated that "presidential re-election is not decided by the elites; only the people can decide." Political opponent, José Francisco Peña Gómez, who returned to Santo Domingo on Sunday 19, after being away for medical treatment and respite since 2 April, said that it is likely the Constitution will be changed to admit presidential re-election after the May congressional and municipal elections. But he said his party, the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) would oppose the amendment on grounds of principal. Another political leader, former President Joaquín Balaguer, whose record number of re-elections (five) will be hard to beat, said he will always favor of re-election. He said that it is the Dominican people who should decide if President Leonel Fernández should be re-elected.
