As was expected and had been announced, the Senate has sent the legislative proposal for the constitutional reform in order to restore consecutive presidential re-election to a special commission of nine unnamed members, as reported in Diario Libre. Twenty-nine of the 31 Senators present, 30 of them members of the ruling PLD, with the exception of Amable Aristy and Felix Vasquez, voted in favor. Vasquez was the only senator absent from the session. Senators Sonia Mateo (Dajabon) and Amarilis Santana (La Romana) did not raise their hands. Mateo did not even raise her head during the voting. <\/p>\n
Nearly half an hour before the vote, a few minutes after beginning the session at 4pm yesterday, Wednesday 6 May 2015, the agenda item for this initiative, which declares the need to reform Article 124 of the Constitution, was read out. This was the first on the list of the Senate proposals, following those of the Executive Branch and the Chamber of Deputies. The floor was not opened to debate before or after sending the proposal to a special commission, and no senators asked to speak.<\/p>\n
The lack of air conditioning also made the Senate chamber very uncomfortable. Several fans were on to relieve the stifling heat. The members were told that the building’s air-conditioning system had broken down several days ago. <\/p>\n
At the end of the session, at 5:30pm, Senate president Cristina Lizardo, answering questions about the timing of the commission members’ appointment, said that there would be nine senators on the commission and she reiterated that this would be announced at the right moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As was expected and had been announced, the Senate has sent the legislative proposal for the constitutional reform in order to restore consecutive presidential re-election to a special commission of nine unnamed members, as reported in Diario Libre. Twenty-nine of the 31 Senators present, 30 of them members of the ruling PLD, with the exception … <\/p>\n