National attention is focused on what President Danilo Medina will tell the nation in his first state of the nation address tomorrow, Wednesday 27 February at the National Assembly, during a joint Chamber of Deputies and the Senate session. This speech, his first since taking office on 16 August 2012, will be broadcast nationwide by almost every TV channel and many radio stations as of 10am. News commentator shows will start as early as 8am.
At noon, the President will be attending a Te Deum Mass at the First Cathedral of the New World and at 1 o’clock he will place a floral wreath at the Altar to the Homeland where the founding fathers, Juan Pablo Duarte, Matias Ramon Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez are buried. Finally, at 4pm he will inspect the traditional military parade along George Washington Avenue.
Speculation is rife on the contents of his speech. Some want the President to announce plans to lower the cost of living, implement salary raises and promote job creation, but generally speaking public safety and the situation with Barrick Gold’s operation in Pueblo Viejo, Cotui are at the center of most people’s interest.
Leading civil society organizations and business groups, including the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS), the National Young Entrepreneurs Association (ANJE), the president of the Dominicans for Change political party, Eduardo Estrella all agree that Medina should come up with some solutions to the energy situation. El Caribe says that the “common people” – the drivers of public cars, housewives, day laborers and employees – are more interested in public safety, the cost of living and unemployment. Finjus executive vice-president, Servio Tulio Castanos Guzman, told the newspaper that one of the fundamental points should be the issues surrounding public safety, including police reform.