President Luis Abinader used the forum of his weekly La Semanal press conference to present to the nation his proposal for major reforms. Abinader has said he will first present his proposals for Constitutional Reform to Congress. The recommendations are to unify the municipal with the presidential and congressional elections, to reduce the number of deputies in Congress from 190 to 137, that the attorney general be appointed by the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM) and not by the President, and that Presidents not be able to modify the Constitution to enable more years in power. The attorney general no longer would be a member of the CNM, as per the President’s proposal.
An editorial in Diario Libre says the government will have a hard time convincing the politicians to let go of the cushy jobs in Congress. The ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) has the absolute majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, yet what the President may desire is not necessarily what the legislators may decide.
The President says that while the constitutional reform bill will be the first to be presented to Congress, other reform bills will follow in the first year of his second term that starts on 16 August 2024. President Abinader has announced he has no intentions to run again for President and favors that the Dominican Constitution rule that Presidents last only two terms and then cannot run again.
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La Semanal
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
6 August 2024