2004News

Fernandez on Dominican time

Ines Aizpun, the deputy executive editor at Diario Libre, writes today on the various styles of Presidents. She comments on how President Hipolito Mejia has always been on time at official events, willing to cut any activity short with a quick comment. This is in contrast to the past record of President Leonel Fernandez, who was well known for his late arrivals at official events. She says the explanation may be that Fernandez, in his extreme courteousness, is incapable of spurning anyone who gets to see him. Aizpun reports that President Fernandez runs on Dominican time, in contrast to Mejia who always ran on British time. She mentions that during his international travels, this ?Dominican time? schedule will leave many people surprised and those in charge of coordinating Fernandez?s agenda will have to perform tricks to get things done on time.