In his televised address to the nation last night, Monday 25 May 2015, former President Leonel Fernandez, who is the president of the ruling PLD party, expressed his support for making the Dominican Constitution more difficult to change, in an apparent bid for more consensus and negotiations within the ruling PLD party at a time when polls show him at record lows in popularity. Fernandez expressed his concern that if President Medina is allowed to seek re-election and is re-elected, he could seek another Constitutional change in 2020 to retain power with the popular vote. The bill presented by Medina supporters for restoring re-election, proposes a second and last consecutive term. Fernandez followers voted against the proposal in the 19 April 2015 Political Committee meeting and have maintained their firm opposition to the bill.
The three-term former President, instead called for a National Referendum to let the people decide on the change to the Constitution. The main argument by re-election supporters is that polls have shown that the Dominican people are in favor of Medina continuing as President. The estimated cost of such a referendum is RD$1.5 billion. It is set out in Article 272 of the 2010 Constitution.
Fernandez added that the Constitution should be changed to increase the number of people registered to vote to 60% for the referendum to be valid and more democratic. He said that this would be “a beautiful example of democracy unprecedented in the country’s history and would show the enormous respect that exists for President Danilo Medina as evidenced by all the polls that have been carried out.”
He also proposed modifying article 270 of the Constitution to ensure there are no mistakes or false interpretations and that any future changes to the Constitution would require a three quarter vote in favor from those present in the National Revisory Assembly made up of deputies and senators.
On 19 April 2015, the influential PLD Political Committee voted in favor of presenting the bill in Congress and called for the party membership to support it on the grounds that Medina was the strongest prospect for the party to win the 2016 election as proven by the most recent polls. The vote of the 35 members was 23 in favor and 12 against the motion. This is the first time that leading members of the party have taken a stand against a decision reached by the committee, which is known for its centralized decisions.
The 2010 Constitution was changed during the President Leonel Fernandez government, enabling him to return to power. He had reached the Presidency under a Constitution that prevented him from running for President again.
Read the speech in Spanish here:
http://acento.com.do/2015/politica/8252212-leonel-fernandez-niega-sea-ambicioso-y-mezquino-discurso-completo/
http://www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2015/05/26/i1165371_leonel-propone-referendo-aprobatorio.html
Listen to the speech here:
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2015/05/26/368581/fernndez-condiciona-la-reeleccin-a-un-referendo