President Danilo Medina spoke for more than two hours, reminding Dominicans the country is the regional leader in economic growth and that this has been accomplished without inflation and with the exchange rate in check. He did not mention the country’s rising public debt. Instead of rendering accounts of his government in the past year, Medina used the opportunity to wrap-up government achievements during his eight-year term that ends in August 2020.
At Congress, Medina’s speech was applauded with standing ovations on more than a dozen times. Opposition senators and deputies had announced early they would not attend the assembly, as they preferred to tune in to the young people that were protesting at the same time at the Plaza de la Bandera. The opposition accused the government of fake news and exercising actions that threaten democracy, freedom of expression, and free transit.
During his Independence Day speech, President Medina mentioned as leading accomplishments of his government from 2012 to 2020 the construction of public schools with 33,000 new classrooms, the widespread vocational training programs under the National Institute of Vocational-Technical Training (Infotep) with more than 5 million graduates, the renovations of 86 public hospitals, billions spent on roads nationwide, jails and the electricity system, naming the Punta Catalina coal-fired thermoelectric plant.
In commenting on the speech, political analyst Rosario Espinal said that the President did not address institutional issues the people are talking about, namely the widespread rejection of actions by the Judicial Branch (Attorney General) and the Minister of Environment. Espinal said the prosecutor’s actions have bottomed, so much that the government has had to contract that international organizations take over the investigations begun by the Attorney General Office prosecutors regarding the e-voting glitch that lead to the suspension of the municipal elections.
The Dominican Constitution establishes that the President present before Congress, at the opening of the first regular legislative session on 27 February of every year, the reports of the ministries, and render account of the administration during the previous year.
After the President spoke at Congress, Medina participated in a Te Deum at the Santo Domingo Cathedral and then oversaw the military parade on the sea-fronting Malecón. Photographs show a poor showing at the parade that in past years has drawn a good crowd. The people chose instead to participate in the Plaza de la Bandera protest-concert.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Diario Libre
28 February 2020