Reform of the Magna Carta is submitted

SD. Without any previous announcements, 13 Senators from the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) submitted yesterday the legislative proposal which declares the need to reform the Constitution for the purpose of including consecutive presidential reelection and with this, the possibility of a second term for President Danilo Medina.

The legislators delivered the document to the Senate president, Cristina Lizardo, in her office yesterday afternoon, after spending half an hour in a meeting behind closed doors.

When the reporters were allowed to go in, Senator Reinaldo Pared Perez announced the delivery of the proposal, explaining that this was being presented with the backing of more than a third part of the representation in the Upper Chamber (13 of 32 Senators), so that it complies with what is stipulated in article 269 of the Constitution.

This article indicates that the Constitution can be reformed if the reform proposal is presented with the support of a third part of the members of one or the other chamber, or is submitted by the Executive Power.

Later on, he read the content of the proposal, which includes four "whereas" referring to the articles of the Magna Carta related with the regulations of constitutional reforms, and the proposal itself with three articles.

The first article declares the need to modify article 124 of the Constitution of 2010 and the establishment of a temporary article.

The second article establishes the objectives of the reform: A) permit the President of the Republic to opt for a second and unique consecutive mandate, not being able to be nominated ever again; and B) establish a transitional article which orders that if the current President is the presidential candidate for the 2016 elections, he cannot present himself for the following period or for any other.

The last article calls for the convening of the National Assembly within 15 days following the publication of this law.

After receiving the document, Lizardo announced that the proposal would be included on the agenda of the Senate session of next Wednesday, 6 May.

As he responded to questions regarding the absence of the signatures of other senators, Pared Perez, who is also the coordinator of the commission which wrote the proposal, said that "we limited ourselves to collecting more than the minimum established by the Constitution, but you can be sure that a few more would sign it."

Last Tuesday the commission met with the bloc of PLD deputies, and the following day with the Senators. In both meetings the legislators who follow the PLD President Leonel Fernandez, expressed their disagreement with the reform.

The 13

The 13 signers of the proposal which declares the need to reform the Constitution of the Republic in its article 124 in order to include the consecutive reelection of a president, were Reinaldo Pared Pérez, Charlie Mariotti, Tommy Galán, Amílcar Romero, Luis René Canaán, Félix Nova, Rubén Darío Cruz, Ivonne Chahín Sasso (who was not present for the delivery of the document), Wilton Guerrero, Rafael Calderón, Antonio Cruz, Juan Mercedes and Euclides Sánchez Tavarez.

The radical positions generate a crisis in the PLD

The crisis that the Dominican Liberation Party is currently experiencing now puts its solution in the hands of President Danilo Medina and the former President Leonel Fernandez.

The positions between the sectors which both men lead are radicalized and each day more voices call for both men to find an agreement which takes the PLD out of the stalemate, over the issue of a constitutional modification which permits the consecutive presidential reelection.

Yesterday it was learned that the followers of Danilo were collecting signatures of members of the Central Committee in favor of the reform, and they said that in this party organ, with 635 members, the President has the majority.

They trust good sense

The Minister of Public Works and one of the principal promoters of reelection, Gonzalo Castillo, said yesterday that there will be a happy ending in the PLD when Medina and Fernandez get together.

Interviewed at the Presidential Palace, the official said that the party took the decision, through the Political Committee which is the organ that directs the agenda of the party.

He said that the PLD is a party of brothers that are accustomed to discipline.

"President Medina and President Leonel are two brothers, with a relationship that goes back more than 40 years, so there will always be the expectation that they will get together," he said.

He said that he doesn't have any knowledge that there have been any meetings between Medina and Fernandez.

He assured the reporters that there won't be any sanctions to any of the legislators that oppose the reelection because the Political Committee has already stated its position.

For his part, Radhames Segura, a member of the Political Committee of the PLD, called on the leaders and militancy of this organization to accept with respect and humility the changes that the party has undergone, as he reasoned that in the PLD today nothing is the same.

He said that you have to be aware that things have changed, since now the PLD has overcome the dominant leadership which it had, which obliges it to live together with a shared leadership. He said that they should leave aside the radical suggestions. In the meantime the former President of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) and member of the Central Committee, Manolo Pichardo, told the reporters that the crisis which the PLD is going through will be overcome because its leadership will not put its permanence in power at risk.