The jurist Eddy Olivares expressed that all the conditions are given so that in the next reform of the Constitution the right to suffrage of the members of the Armed Forces and the National Police is consecrated.
Through a press release, Olivares stated that the right to vote of military and police personnel must be incorporated into the National Dialogue coordinated by the Economic and Social Council (ESC), within the framework of the reform of the Constitution, proposed by President Luis Abinader.
“The reason for the impediment of the vote of military and police, contemplated in article 208 of the Constitution of the Republic, has long since ceased to exist, as evidenced by the fact that in our country, since since the 1978 General Elections, the military and police institutions have not provoked any negative events that have undermined the democratic stability of the nation, “said the also member of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM).
Olivares indicates that the military institutions have been fully “obedient” to civilian power, as required by the Political Constitution, leaving “in the past” the control of the military over civilians, so there is no justification for the prevailing impediment of the right to vote of the citizens who make them up.
The lawyer points out that it is appropriate to clarify that the approval of the military’s right to vote is limited exclusively to voting, not to passive suffrage, which must continue to prevent them. That is, they will not be able to aspire to popularly elected positions or participate in any kind of political activity.
Olivares exclaims that it must also be taken into account that the prohibition of the vote of the military and police, makes them, de facto, second-class citizens, because due to their function and affiliation to an armed corps of the state is deprived of the right to elect government authorities and to participate in referendums, which is at the same time a duty of citizens in a democracy.
“When a Constitutional Reform materializes, it will be time to make the right of the military and police to equality at the polls a reality, which is the first condition of democracy,” Olivares added.