SANTO DOMINGO.- Former President Leonel Fernández assured yesterday that the Government gave a fatal blow to agriculture by promoting a zero rate for some products of the basic basket and that what corresponded was to lighten the tariffs on commodities as a way of helping the national productive sector.
He gave the example of meat and bakery, sectors that, he said, are facing crisis and that making them compete with imported products at this time will liquidate them.
He argued that what the People’s Force would have done in a similar case would have been to place a zero rate (in the case of meat) on the inputs used in the farms and (in the case of the bakery) on flour. He reiterated that it was a foolish policy and that in a reactive way, the government launches Siembra RD to try to correct the mistake he made.
He described as worrying that the sector that grows the least is agriculture and that it is the one that, internally, has the greatest impact on inflation.
He pointed out that of the 33 countries in Latin America, the Dominican Republic has the third highest inflation, which indicates that the cause has to do with internal factors, in addition to external ones.
Make data transparent
For former President Fernández, unemployment, food insecurity and citizen security are the issues that should be treated with the most care.
In economic matters, Fernández said that although it is true that there has been economic growth, saying that it was 12% as reported by the Central Bank is wrong, since growth must be defined in relation to the year 2019 before the pandemic and not with 2020, which was the year of economic contraction.
He insisted that it should not be exaggerated and that economic growth, according to data from international organizations, was quoted in the last year at 4.7%, which in itself is good. Fernandez’s statements came when he participated as a guest at the Corripio Communications Group’s Weekly Luncheon.
Modify Constitution
In relation to the modification of the Constitution, a proposal of the current authorities that seeks, according to what has been reported, to generate a framework of independence of the Public Ministry, suppressing the prerogative of the Executive Power to appoint a prosecutor, Fernández pointed out that this is not necessary .
He explained that the Constitution and the Organic Law of the Public Ministry already grant independence to the state body and that those who allege such things are unaware of how much progress has been made in terms of institutionality.
He assured that no president has the power to call the prosecutor to influence a decision and that if such a thing occurs, a major scandal could be generated that ends with the resignation of the current president.
From his point of view, the fact that a person belongs to or has had a political career does not disqualify him from occupying positions in the State and that there are already examples of good achievements, such as the case of “Milton Ray Guevara at the head of the Constitutional Court” . “The idea of disqualifying the politician does not seem correct to me.
The important thing is that there is an exemplary citizen in the position”. He said that the legal basis for Dominican laws was taken from Spain, France and the United States and that in the three countries mentioned above the figure of the attorney is appointed by the Executive Power.
“In fact, in monarchies, the attorney was called the king’s lawyer,” he said.
He denied being afraid that the Constitution would be reformed, since he himself was the one who led the most advanced reform in Ibero-America in 2010 with the participation and inclusion of all sectors of Dominican society.
He stated that, evidently, there are other intentions apart from those cited by the Government, such as the case of reducing the margin with which electoral victory is obtained at the presidential level, a proposal by Milagros Ortiz Bosch.
“If that has worked, why change it, what works well should not be changed”.
positioning
Fernández took advantage of that same comment to say that possibly those who propose that (eliminate 50% +1 of the votes) is because the numbers do not give him.
He stated that currently President Luis Abinader has an intention to vote that ranges between 39% and 42%, although his favorability is 49%.
back to power
—1— The old
Fernández assured that he aspires to bring the People’s Force to power to correct problems of an old agenda that must continue to be faced.
—2— What’s New
But the issues of the future, robotics, the web, etc. must also be worked on.
Investment and quality do not go hand in hand
Education. Former President Leonel Fernández reiterated his position on the 4% of GDP allocated to the Education sector, considering that investment and quality do not necessarily go hand in hand. He clarified that he would not seek to eliminate said legislation since there is no way to reverse it, since it is interpreted as a social conquest, but that the educational base requires other changes that guarantee the development of students in the public system.
In his case, he assured that the intention to vote is oscillating between 30% and 34%, which shows a notable growth that will continue as the electoral process scheduled for the year 2024 approaches.
Presidential in FP
One of the issues that everyone outside the People’s Force notices is that the efforts of said party revolve around the figure of Fernández, which the organization anticipates would lose validity before the citizenry with an eventual physical disappearance of its leader, as happened in the recent past with the Christian Social Reformist Party.
These concerns are answered by Fernández by assuring that the organization he presides over is an open party in which all its members can freely present their aspirations.
He assured that there are figures with the potential to be presidents of the Republic in the FP and when asked to name some, the spokespersons for the benches before the National Congress, Dionis Sánchez, for the Senate, and Rubén Maldonado, for the Chamber of Deputies, they pointed to themselves, stating “here they are”.
Senator Dionis Fernández, deputy Rubén Maldonado and former senator José Rafael Vargas look on as their leader responds.
In any case, Fernández clarified that he is not the presidential candidate of the FP, since these are not campaign times and that his organization is in a process of growth. Regarding the Dominican Liberation Party, which already has presidential candidates, Fernández stated that “these are problems of the Central Electoral Board”, implying that the practice was not correct.
Border
In relation to border issues, Fernández said that the idea of building a wall on the border is less discussed today than before, although he indicated that a “technological wall is more effective than a concrete one. The physical wall is less and less effective. In our case we have a situation with illegal immigration, arms and drug trafficking”.
He stated that no one can question the right of countries to deport illegals based on existing laws.
Regarding the National Police, he said that the biggest problem of the body of order lies in the prevention of crime and in its role towards the citizen.
The corruption
– Legal base
Fernandez said that in their governments the legal basis was made to improve the institutionality such as the Budget, Treasury, Purchases, Access to Public Information Law, so they were not indifferent to the issue of corruption.
