A question for Golo

[Adrian Bye]

Golo:

What would have to happen for a Dominican president to be elected, serve his term, then move on and for you to say "wow, that guy had integrity, was 100% honest, and did his best, even though circumstances were very difficult"?

And, what would have to happen so that the majority of the Dominican people felt the same way also?

I realise there is a general distrust of politicians around the world, but with the posts and tone I'm seeing here, I don't see that its possible to have anything but negative public opinion when a person finishes their term.

Am I wrong?

Adrian

[Golo100]

All I ask of Leonel is to be the guardian of our interests and to conduct himself in an ethical manner. I would ask him to put himself in my shoes as a Dominican citizen, specially one who voted for him, and think of our needs.

We need stability in the economy and our currency. We need a clear set of rules and no exceptions. We need to eliminate special priviledges. We need a legal system that works equally or as close to equal for all.

If Leonel can only bring back the institutionalization he brought into government, he would have achieved 25% of his goal. All our institutions have been all but destroyed by the cannibalism of Hipolito Mejia. Our armed forces and police are a bunch of goons, thieves and corrupt gang of gendarmes. Our judges are all in the take.

Leonel organized government back to where it was when Trujillo was chief, except under democratic rule and much more in contact with the people. Leonel brings back decency, moral values, correctness and civilization back to the national palace. That's enough to make you feel you have achieved something. I sure hope this guy doesn't screw up this time. He has the opportunity to be the greatest president in history if he follows his judgement and does not listen to our traditional politicians. He made a mistake appointing Frank Cabral to a sensitive task. To me that was a big no,no.
But I promised the DR1 members I was not going to hold that against him again, until I get more information as to his reasons for this.

TW

[frank alvarez]

Originally Posted by Golo100

Leonel organized government back to where it was when Trujillo was chief, except under democratic rule and much more in contact with the people. Leonel brings back decency, moral values, correctness and civilization back to the national palace. TW

Golo100, in my humble opinion, this is what Leonel did in 1996/2000 since it was a democratic, decent, respectful government and institutions were strengthened. Even minor details like the renewal of your 'cedula', driver's license or passport became easy to do, not the previous corruption-riddled procedures prior to Leonel's implemented changes and the backtracking experienced under the PPH/PRD government. The PRD has proven, every chance they have been given, that they follow the 'populismo' and 'clientelismo' as their main doctrine and, like someone said, "Lo mío alante y si queda algo se lo damos al pueblo"...(Get me mine first and if there's something left for the people we'll give it to them).

[samiam]

I agree with Golo in what expectations have to be met in order to be satisfied with one president............but

I think Leonel has a great task ahead of him, many compromises to fulfill and a very different country than the one he took over 8 years ago. I dont want to get my hopes up too much since, unlike the conditions(or lack thereof) of the 'Patriotic Pact', this time around Leonel will most likely have to 'spread the love' when appointing his ministers.

I just hope they do what they have to do and dont screw up because of incompetents who seek "lo suyo".

[Tordok]

Originally Posted by samiam

....I think Leonel has a great task ahead of him, many compromises to fulfill and a very different country than the one he took over 8 years ago. I dont want to get my hopes up too much since, unlike the conditions(or lack thereof) of the 'Patriotic Pact', this time around Leonel will most likely have to 'spread the love' when appointing his ministers.

I just hope they do what they have to do and dont screw up because of incompetents who seek "lo suyo".

Samiam,
I beg to differ with you on this one. It was back in '96 when Leonel was obligated to "spread the love", like you said. Back then he barely made it, and largely thanks to Balaguer's (and the old man's own gang of 40 ladrones) blessing of his candidacy. This time around he won an overwhelming popular mandate, granted that largely as a protest against Hipolito, but also by being his own man and not the inexperienced protege of, 1st Bosch, and later Balaguer. Even with the congress controlled by PRD monsters, he has a better chance to set his own agenda this time around and is less dependent on the old goats for legitimacy as leader of his people. There will always be a few of his own people that will seek to inappropriately profit from their new positions, however this is inevitable, even in the most civilized of nations. The key will be whether Leonel will effectively contain this kind of problem, in order to avoid the gross loss of credibility that finally did Hipolito in.
-Tordok

[Ken]

I agree with your assessment, Tordok. No question this win is very different from 1996 when he squeaked in thanks to Ballaguer. He had a lot more markers out then than now. Also, Juan Bosch is dead, Leonel is experienced, and the legislators can't help but be aware the people are feeling more empowered than ever before. I expect him to use decrees to good effect to accomplish his goals if this become necessary. However, with a very popular president in office and their own election coming up soon, I think the legislators will be very careful about working against him.