Jose Alfredo Rizek, the executive director of the Foundation Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS), opines that, given the fact the government did not respect the legal requirement of officially publishing the Constitutional reform of 2002, the changes made could be annulled. He said that any citizen can request the opinion of the Supreme Court of Justice. Rizek told Diario Libre that the government is guilty of ?marked negligence? by not publishing the modifications in the Offiical Gazette nor in any daily newspaper. He explained that while this lapse does not make the reform illegal, it does make it ?ineffective.?
As reported yesterday in DR1 Daily News, this example of legal carelessness could place Hipolito Mejia?s bid for re-election in jeopardy. As is now being revealed, the Constitutional reform law of 2002 reintegrated the prospect of re-election into the country?s legal framework but was never formally published. According to Article 42 of the Constitution itself, laws are enforceable for all inhabitants of the country upon their publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of nationwide circulation. The Constitution is not exempt from this requirement.