Former President Leonel Fernández said that the state of the nation address of President Mejia served to reaffirm the latter’s lack of vision regarding the future of the nation, and his lack of clear concepts of where Dominicans should be headed to generate wealth, achieve social and economic development and reduce poverty. He said that President Mejia did not present a true state of the nation address because if he had done so he would have had to explain the reasons why in only six months of government prices of basic items have increased so alarmingly, why the growth rate of the nation has declined, and why 50% of Dominicans believe that from 16 August to date their living standards have worsened, sales in many stores are down 40%, construction has slowed down, hotels have closed, and hardware stores in the Cibao have gone bankrupt.
