August 29, 2024

Nine senators and 16 deputies are tasked with reviewing the project sent to Congress by President Luis Abinader.

The constitutional reform project's bicameral commission, composed of nine senators and 16 deputies, will begin the study cycle this Thursday. The commission will analyze the proposal submitted by the Executive Branch and then submit a unified report to the Senate and the lower house, respectively.

The first assembly began at 10:00 in the morning in one of the Congress rooms.

Pedro Catrain, the senator from Samaná and one of the commission's coordinators, explained that anyone with a point of view can raise it. He also urged opposition legislators, a minority in Congress, to participate in the debate.

The members of the bicameral commission are from the Senate: Pedro Catrain, who will chair it; Omar Fernández, Ramón Rogelio Genao, Cristóbal Venerado Castillo, Félix Bautista, Antonio Taveras Guzmán, Lía Inocencia Díaz, and Franklin Romero.

The deputies include Julio César Beltré, Soraya Suárez, Danilo Díaz, Rogelio Genao Lanza, Eugenio Cedeño, Elías Wessin Chávez, Mateo Evangelista Espaillat, Carlos de Pérez, Rafael Tobías Crespo, Carmen Ligia Barceló, Kinsberly Taveras, Mayobanex Martínez, Onabel Aristy, Aníbal Díaz, Francisco Rodolfo Villegas, Ramón Bueno Patiño and Robinson Díaz.

President Luis Abinader submitted the project through his legal consultant, Antoliano Peralta.

The modification proposal is focused on four essential points: that the attorney be elected by the National Council of the Judiciary (CNM) for two years, that the presidents in office cannot use the Magna Carta to extend the time established, that the presidential, congressional, and municipal elections be unified, and that the number of deputies be established at 137 seats.

Antonio Marte, senator for Santiago Rodríguez for the People First party, proposed that instead of eliminating 53 deputies, Congress should have a single chamber composed of 67 senators and deputies, five national deputies, and those of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen). As an advantage, he maintained that the country would save millions of pesos.