Constitutional Reform Consolidates the Democratic Project Initiated by Juan Bosch in 1963

Dominican President and President of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD in Spanish), Leonel Fernández, expressed that the constitutional reform process approved by Congress consolidates the democratic project begun by Juan Bosch’s administration in 1963.

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Honorary President of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y
Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) President  Fernández spoke about the life and legacy of Juan Bosch, original founder of the PLD, at the conference: “Juan Bosch: Thinker, Politician and Historian,” which formed part of the week-long event of activities celebrating the anniversary of the birth of Professor Juan Bosch, politician, writer and humanitarian.

President
Fernández evoked the historic dimension of Bosch and the Bosch-inspired political thought that underscored the first electoral victory of the PLD in 1996. The president stated that his own victory owed a great deal to the party’s founder.
“At the end of the day, when I was elected president in 1996, I didn’t feel that I was elected, but that Juan Bosch was elected. What occurred was that the triumph had been realized by one of his disciples,” he
said. “What has he represented or tried to represent in our accession to power?  He made it possible for the first time in Dominican history to have a combination of a modernization process, a political, technological, scientific and cultural transformation within a democratic context.” 

President Fernandez, who was deeply influenced by Bosch’s leadership, stressed the importance of the modernization process currently underway in the
country. He pointed to the distance the country has come since the Trujillo era – a period in which modernization was achieved, but within an authoritarian context.

“We want to point out,” said the President, “that this transformation has taken place in a democratic climate.” It was in this context that he pointed out that this process began in 1963 during the 7-month-old government of Juan Bosch and that now, with the
constitutional reform, the democratic project continues.

The President posited that the constitutional reform guarantees the fundamental rights of Dominican citizens as well as jurisdictional guarantees for people to exercise those rights.

He said that it is possible that errors will be committed along the way, but affirmed that the democratic vision and commitment of the country has been established. The Honorary President of GFDD and FUNGLODE
concluded by saying, “I know that our generation will never tarnish the memory of Professor Juan Bosch.”