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Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader (center) receives the presidential sash to mark the start of his second term. /AFP
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader begins his second term in office from 2024-2028 on Friday, where his main challenges will be the crisis in Haiti and economic growth amid the fiscal reforms he is promoting.
“I proudly accept the second chance that the Dominican people have given me,” the president said during a swearing-in ceremony at the National Theater attended by members of Congress, the King of Spain, Felipe VI, and heads of state and government of the region.
Abinader, 56, began his second term promising to tighten controls on Haitian immigration and push through tax reforms to sustain economic growth, which is expected to exceed 5% this year.
It will also seek to reform the constitution, but promises not to include indefinite re-election and to guarantee the institutional independence of public ministries.
The president will have a majority in both houses of parliament, as well as mayoral posts. His group, the Social Democratic Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) and its allies, control 29 of the 32 seats in the Senate and 146 of the 190 seats in the House of Representatives.
Representatives from neighboring Haiti did not attend the event. Haitian Foreign Minister Dominique Dupuy said government representatives would not attend due to the “urgent obligations” the impoverished country faces amid a violent crisis that erupted last February, according to media reports.
Dupuy also said he was unable to travel due to the Dominican Republic’s unilateral closure of its airspace.
Abinader won the May 19 election with more than 57% of the vote, nearly 30 percentage points ahead of his closest rival, former President Leonel Fernández.
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