President Hipolito Mejia, speaking on the campaign trail in New York City, said that the Dominican military will now reach out to their friends and family to urge them to vote against his leading opponent, former President Leonel Fernandez, following the latter?s criticism of what he considered excessive promotions within the Dominican military system.
The Constitution expressly bans Dominican military from involvement in politics.
Nevertheless, Mejia criticized the PLD presidential candidate?s position that by promoting 167 Dominican military to the rank of general, Mejia had ?cualquierizado? the military force, meaning that anyone now could be a general. Prior to the Mejia administration, the DR had only 23 generals. Mejia highlighted his contributions to the welfare of the military, saying that during the Fernandez government the military wore sneakers, while today they have shoes. Mejia was speaking at the City College of New York. During the activity, he encouraged Dominicans in New York to call home and send letters with dollars as they reminded their relatives and family to vote white (the party color of the ruling PRD party).
As reported in Hoy newspaper, President Mejia blamed the Dominican economic crisis on external factors, including the 9/11 terrorist attack, and credited his government for having the courage to confront the problems.