Santo Domingo.- Representatives of the Fuerza del Pueblo (FP), Dominican Liberation (PLD), Dominican Revolutionary (PRD), Social Christian Reformist (PRSC), and Modern Revolutionary (PRM) parties rejected Senator Antonio Marte’s proposal to dissolution of the current Congress and to form another unicameral that would be made up of only 67 legislators, contrary to the current one that has 222 members.
They agree that the senator’s proposal for Santiago Rodríguez has no legal basis, in addition to the fact that it would break the counterweight that for years has contributed to the preservation of democracy in the country, in addition to the fact that a constitutional reform would have to be initiated.
PRM
The deputy spokesman for the PRM block of deputies, Eugenio Cedeño, said that the current Congress, which is bicameral, allows for a counterweight and greater evaluation when approving a law.
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«The sieve that one camera implies for the other cannot be interpreted as a hindrance to the development of the activity of the Congress, never in life, that time that is taken in the cameras examining, is vital and is necessary because it allows correcting in a camera the weaknesses that a decision of the National Congress may have in one aspect and recent example we have had when the trust law was approved in the Chamber of Deputies in one way and the Senate of the Republic served as a brake so that it approved that as ordered and that gave the Executive time to create the commission that is studying the project”, he highlighted.
PLD
José Dantés, PLD.While Dantes, legal consultant for the PLD, said that in the Dominican Republic the bicameral guarantees a system of checks and balances that is vital for democracy.
“That this gentleman, who has not the slightest idea of what he is doing and what he is saying, proposes something like that, I really don’t care, it seems to me simply a proposal that doesn’t make any sense because in Congress each chamber has different attributions, of different control, of appointments of officials, then it is giving too much power to a group of people who can give rise to dealing with democracy in a country like the Dominican Republic, so presidential, “he said.
VET
Dionis Sánchez, spokesperson for the senators of the People’s Force, said that the Marte proposal lacks sense and lacks a legal basis because the change from a bicameral congress to a unicameral one is not reserved for legislators, but for a constituent assembly.
“That has no legal basis, that is nonsense, you cannot propose a law in that nonsense, that is not reserved for the ordinary legislator, that is the matter of the constitutional legislator, it is regrettable that he uncovers himself saying that he is going to present a project for that, that is part of the constitutionalist legislator, “he said.
He added that “an ordinary legislator simply cannot present a bill of this nature, he cannot because it is prohibited by the Constitution of the Republic, that is a matter of constitutional reform, that is a matter of the constituent legislator.”
PRD
On her side, the spokeswoman for the PRD block of deputies, Fiordaliza Peguero, said that a proposal like that of Senator Marte constitutes a democratic setback, because it would break the balance of forces that prevails when making a decision in the legislative chambers.
“This would also imply a reform of the Constitution and we know that at this time the spirits are not there for those purposes, no matter the way in which we try to reform the Constitution, at this time it will not be possible and we understand that in this four-year period we will not the Magna Carta is going to be reformed”, he considered.
PRSC
The reformist spokesman in the Lower House, Ramón Rogelio Genao Lanza, considered that in order to discuss the proposal to create a unicameral congress, the conditions for a reform of the Constitution would have to be created, something that is not possible at the moment.
“The Dominican system has territorial deputies, national deputies and session deputies and there are quite a few legislators and there are people who understand that it must be reduced, but for that discussion an environment is needed in a constitutional reform and we see that at this time I do not think it will prosper. .
He believed, however, that when a reform to the Magna Carta is to be discussed, the project that Senator Santiago Rodríguez is promoting could be discussed.
a note
a unicameral congress
The senator for Santiago Rodríguez, Antonio Marte, proposed last Thursday the elimination of the current National Congress, which is bicameral, for another unicameral one that would be made up of only 67 legislators. Currently, the Chamber of Deputies is made up of 190 deputies and the Senate by 32 representatives, for a total of 222.
In his proposal, Marte points out that the new legislators would have a period of five years, as would the President of the Republic, who would still not be able to be reelected after a reappointment. He also proposes that voting be compulsory. To put this project into practice, the Constitution would have to be amended.
