The Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) is waiting for its legislators to reach an agreement on two of the four issues in the bill that declares the need for constitutional reform, said yesterday the deputy of that political organization, Aníbal Díaz.
He said that the issue is a reformulation of the size of the National Congress and the unification of the elections, a consensus on which could be reached next week, after which the parliamentarians will meet with the party leadership.
“The party itself has told us to come to an agreement on two fundamental aspects: the unification of elections and the reformulation of the size of Congress and its quality levels,” he said.
Last Wednesday, PRM deputies met in the morning in the party bloc to address several points of interest, among which was the issue of constitutional reform. That day, a meeting had been scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with the party leadership, which was suspended.
Alfredo Pacheco, president of the Chamber of Deputies, explained last week that the PRM leadership will reach a consensus with its congressmen – who are a qualified majority in each chamber – on the differences they have with the reform.
Among the counterproposals made by the ruling party regarding the issue of the reduction of deputies, is to reduce the number of seats in the Lower House by 15 or 10, and not 53, as recommended by President Luis Abinader in his project. The initiative proposes to “adjust” the number of deputies from 190 to 137.
An overseas senator
The spokesman for the Fuerza del Pueblo (FP) party in the Chamber of Deputies, Rafael Castillo, condemned and described as “incoherent” the fact that a PRM senator proposed increasing the number of legislators in the Upper House from 32 to 33, by requesting that there be an overseas representative on that side of Congress.
He criticized the attempt to reduce the number of legislators in one chamber and, on the other hand, increase the number in the other, which works correctly.
“It is something that has no basis and is not necessary,” he said yesterday when participating in the program Despierta con CDN. Unlike Castillo, his counterpart Aníbal Díaz, who spoke this Friday from Congress, is in favor of having a senator who represents Dominicans abroad, whether in this constitutional reform or another.
He outlined the work methodology that he will follow
The bicameral commission in charge of studying the bill declaring the need for constitutional reform held its first meeting last Thursday, in which it outlined the work methodology. The legislation seeks to guarantee the constitutional stability of the presidential election rules, as well as to strengthen the constitutional autonomy of the Public Ministry, adjust the number of deputies and unify the elections.
