Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez said that the congressmen that have announced a constitutional reform prior to Christmas this year have the wrong idea. He said that one has to tell the legislators that they have a lot to learn from the civic society and from any person and that the fact that they have been given the authority to legislate does not mean that everything that they do is right. "I believe that for any minimally intelligent person the fact that the entire country, in block has said NO to the way things have been done would be sufficient," said the head of the Catholic Church in the DR. The Senate has just approved with urgency a bill that calls for the reforming of 30 articles of the Constitution and the extension of the presidential term to five years as of 2004. Analysts fear that once Congress meets to discuss the Constitution, the desire of congressmen to extend their terms two-three more years will be accomplished. When asked yesterday about the matter, President Hipólito Mejía said: "I have said do not get me involved in that, I am in for four years and not a single day more, and I told them when they went to see me, well, if you want to modify it, that is your problem, but do not involve me in that, I do not accept that," said President Mejía. He was interviewed at the Hotel Jaragua where he attended the graduation of the Universidad del Caribe and granted a honoris causa distinction to businessman Manuel Corripio.
