Since the start of his first term, President Luis Abinader has been talking about modifying the Constitution so that Presidents cannot continue in power beyond the two terms established in the Constitution.
On 19 August 2024, Abinader convened the National Assembly to open discussions. Abinader has included in the amendment proposal a clause whereby politicians in general cannot in the future modify the Constitution for their own benefit.
In the recent past, presidents Joaquin Balaguer, Leonel Fernandez and Hipólito Mejía modified the Constitution during their governments to ensure they legally could remain in power.
Former three-term President Leonel Fernandez has argued that the current 2010 Constitution, modified during his last term in government, already set limits to two terms in office. In his last amendment of the Constitution, Fernandez benefited from a clause that allowed him to run for a fourth term and he did so in the 2020 and 2024 election periods.
Fernandez’s party, the Fuerza del Pueblo is the leading opposition party in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Nevertheless, the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party has more than sufficient majority to pass any amendment to the Constitution. Fernandez’s very verbal son, Omar Fernandez, is the opposition’s only representative in the 2024-2028 senate.
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Presidency
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
El Dia
Esta Noche con Mariasela
20 August 2024