Fernandez and constitutional reform

[NewsWhore]

President Leonel Fernandez is once again pushing for constitutional reform saying that this would eliminate the deficiencies that have held back Dominican society. Fernandez made this statement during a panel discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. Fernandez explains that a reform will take aspects that support social equality into consideration, as well as environmental protection and technological advancements. The President said that what motivates constitutional reform is the need to make democracy more efficient and added that important aspects like the presumption of innocence of an accused, which is currently not included in the Dominican constitution, should be considered. He also says that there is no clear definition of civil and political rights in the Constitution and it would be good to establish this legally.
Participating in the panel discussion were Flavio Dario Espinal, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the White House; Rosario Espinal, Professor of Sociology, Temple University; Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the OAS; and Claudio Grossman, Professor and Dean, Washington College of Law, American University. They discussed the processes of constitutional reform currently underway in the region, and further commented on the challenges and prospects for constitutional reform in the Dominican Republic. The discussion was followed by remarks by keynote speaker Leonel Fernandez, President of the Dominican Republic.

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