Spokespersons for the Alianza Pais political party, Guillermo Moreno and Minou Tavárez Mirabal, again warned the Dominican people of the negative effects that constitutional reform could bring to the nation. They urged the Dominican people not to fall for the argument that it is urgent to unify the municipal and congressional and presidential elections.
President Danilo Medina in July 2019 accepted not to seek constitutional reform so that he could run for President in 2020. But his followers are still interested in amending the Dominican Constitution to serve particular interests. The excuse this time around is the unifying of the municipal election with the congressional and presidential election, allegedly to save costs. The government has already made the 2020 elections the most costly by picking up a big chunk of the cost of the primaries of the two leading political parties, the ruling Dominican Liberation Party and the Modern Revolutionary Party. But cost aside, Moreno understands this would allow for many more changes that are not in line with the strengthening of Dominican democracy.
Alianza País warns against the continuing campaign for the convening of the National Assembly to modify the 2015 Constitution. Alianza Pais says the campaign is promoted by the faction of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) with the objective of erasing the clause that impedes a Dominican President to be elected for more than two terms. Likewise, Alianza Pais says the campaign seeks to enable Medina to run for President again in 2024.
Guillermo Moreno says the effort seeks to continue with the “harmful practice” of constitutional reform to accommodate personal ambitions of a President. He says this has occurred during the governments of Pedro Pedro Santana, Buenaventura Báez, Lilís, Horacio Vásquez, Trujillo, Balaguer, Leonel Fernández and present incumbent, Danilo Medina in 2015. Medina, nevertheless, would be the first Dominican President to promote constitutional reform on two occasions. The 2015 Constitution was passed to enable him to run for President in 2016.
The spokespeople for Alianza País say that rehabilitating Danilo Medina means he will be able to run for President in 2024. This will strengthen his leadership in the PLD and extend his power of control, beyond 2020, over the government institutions made up by party members that are loyal to him and can serve as guarantees of impunity.
Alianza Pais says this will sink the precarious democracy of the country even further, while opening up new possibilities for the continuing in power of the ruling government party.
Once the National Assembly is convened to reform the constitution, the legislators have free range of what gets changed. At present the ruling party is majority in Congress. Other analysts mention the intention is to lower the 50%+1 percentage needed to win the election in a first round.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
10 September 2019