President Danilo Medina, who held a series of meetings throughout the month of March with influential political and social leaders to discuss the drafting of the naturalization bill, has said that he hopes the proposal will eventually be sent to National Congress, and that if it does not please all of the people, that it would at least be acceptable to the majority. The bill would need to be in harmony with Constitutional Court Ruling 168-13 that clarified who is Dominican and called for the implementing of the Foreigner Legalization Plan.
When asked by journalists if the Dominican authorities would discuss the matter with Haiti during the 8 April bilateral talks in Jacmel, Medina said they would wait and see, as they would not commit to something that might not happen. “I cannot commit to firm deadlines, have to do this calmly. This has taken years, I cannot be rushed,” he said.
He went on to say that everyone he had spoken to shared a spirit of cooperation for the drafting of the bill.
President Medina has publicized the home visits he has made to hear the opinions of Luis Abinader, Hipolito Mejia, Miguel Vargas Maldonado of the PRD, and Hatuey de Camps of the PRSD, in addition to Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez. He is now expected to hear the opinion of the evangelical church spokespersons.
The President said the bill would be delivered to all the leaders he has visited prior to sending to Congress.
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