Orlando Gil of El Siglo explained the debacle of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate in a commentary in the newspaper. He speculates that what is going on is that President Leonel Fernández and the PLD want to please the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano. The PLD would like to stay in the good graces of that party’s leader, former President Dr. Joaquin Balaguer, who while as of 16 August . He speculates that the same can be said of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, that while prompt in its criticism of the government and the PLD, refrains from confronting the PRSC, regardless of whether it is that party that is leading the "disorder" now present in Congress. President Leonel Fernández called for a reopening of congressional sessions, with only three weeks remaining. What has followed is a parade of approvals of self-interested bills, such as pensions, and of other controversial bills, such as the Chamber of Accounts report on the budgetary exercise for year 1996, corresponding to the final half of the Balaguer administration. The passing of the judicial career, consigning four years immobility to judges, and the school of the magistracy bill has been controversial. Several sectors have requested life immobility for the judges, especially the Supreme Court judges. Senator José Hazim rejected criticism, that has come from many sectors, including the influential Consejo Nacional de la Empresa Privada, the largest business organization, saying that the bill approved was the same one submitted by PRD Senator Milagros Ortíz Bosch. Ortíz Bosch has criticized the shortening of the working span of judges to 4 years. The bill needs to be promulgated by President Leonel Fernández in order to be converted into law. The Senate suspended its sessions yesterday, but Virgilio Castillo, second in charge of the Chamber said that there is a consensus to modify the constitution and extend to year 2000 the term of the senators, deputies, mayors and aldermen. There is a movement, that is head by the president of the Senate, Amable Aristy Castro that seeks to reform the Constitution. The Constitution was last reformed in a 48 hour marathon session in 1994. Hoy newspaper reported that the legislators seek to extend in a year the time period of the legislators, mayors and alderman and incorporate the presidential re-election possibility. The legislators also want to reduce to 40% the percentage necessary to avoid the need of a second round. The reformed constitution requires a President to win in the first round at least 50%+1 of the vote. The legislators say they would also include the possibility of holding a referendum in the reformed Constitution. The Listín Diario reported that the session of yesterday in the Chamber of Deputies got to such an extreme that legislatures of the PRD party pulled the microphones away from the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Hector Peguero Méndez, who is leading a dissident group within the PRD, affecting the audio of the hall. They did so when the deputies were voting on modifying the internal mechanisms of the organization.
