State of Emergency will not cure Covid-19
Emmanuel Esquea, a former deputy for the PRD, tweeted that Congress should not approve the State of Emergency because it would grant exceptional powers to the government during its final five months in government. Esquea does not see how the declaration will contribute to the present public health crisis.
President Danilo Medina announced on Tuesday, 17 March 2020 in his address to the nation that he would send to Congress the request for the declaring a State of Emergency.
Esquea alerts this practically eliminates the role of Congress that he says is fit to approve all necessary measures to deal with the Covid-19 virus. “The opposition should not fall for this,” he warned.
He explained a State of Emergency enables the President to order the violation of domicile and eliminate the freedom of transit, expression and gathering. It can also violate correspondence. “I want someone to tell me if the violation of these fundamental rights can remedy the virus?,” he asked. He added that in a state of emergency, the President can put any person in prison without a time limit to bring them to justice, he can transfer prisoners from one prison to another, he can prohibit a habeas corpus. “Is that good for curing the coronavirus?”
Esquea recalled that in 1930 Rafael Leonidas Trujillo consolidated his power by declaring a State of Emergency. He would govern for the next 30 years.
“It’s not that we want to politicize the coronavirus problem. On the contrary, what we don’t want is for the government to politicize it,” he warned.
The English-language translated version of the Constitution by Fabio Guzmán-Ariza states in Title XIII on the States of Exception:
Art. 262: “States of Exception are extraordinary situations that seriously affect the security of the nation, its institutions and individuals, and under which ordinary powers of government are insufficient. The President, with the authorization of Congress, may declare States of Exception in three different forms: State of National Defense, State of Civil Unrest and State of Emergency.
President Danilo Medina has announced he will ask Congress to declare a State of Emergency.
Art. 265 of the Constitution explains that a State of Emergency may be declared when events occur, that seriously and imminently endanger, or threaten to endanger, the economic, social or environmental stability of the country, or constitute a public calamity.” Art. 266 establishes a series of long list of citizen rights that may be suspended.
Yesterday, the legal advisor to the Presidency on Wednesday corrected the bill sent to the Senate for the declaration of the State of Emergency. Legal advisor Flavio Dario Espinal said it was an error to include freedom of expression. The bill restricts the rights of freedom of transit and gatherings of persons limited for 25 days, or the time necessary to avoid the spread of Covid-19.
On 26 February 2020, President Medina had already issued Decree 87-20 authorizing the extraordinary purchase of medical supplies and equipment needed to deal with the health crisis.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
March 19, 2020
Category: DR News |