Dominican President Danilo Medina has stated that he is open to the idea of running for re-election.

The 63-year-old president is able to consider the option of extending his time in office, now that congress has, last Friday, approved a constitutional reform which allows Dominican Republic's presidents to serve two consecutive terms.

As reported by The Associated Press, Medina stated he would not support any reform that would allow for his re-election.

On Wednesday, Medina said he has changed his mind in light of what he calls public support for the new reform. Support for the measure, which also bars a two-term president from running for vice president in the future, was approved 181 to 39.

The Dominican Republic -- which, due to its hurricanes, earthquakes, crumbling infrastructure, and widespread corruption, was listed by Forbes last year as the least reliable country to conduct business in -- is preparing to deport an unknown number of Haitians and others after the deadline for petitioning to legally stay in the country has passed.

The Economist reports just over half of the 500,000 largely Haitian immigrants filed the necessary forms before the June 17 deadline.

Many of the people who face deportation to Haiti have never lived in the country.

Bridget Wooding of Obmica, a think-tank centered in Santo Domingo, describes the severity of the situation, saying: “People could be expatriated from the country in which they were born. That would make them stateless in Haiti.”

As reported in the Guardian, Danilo Medina has stated that there would be no mass deportations.

Government officials have however said that Haitian migrants can be deported within 48 hours of the deadline.

The Dominican army has affirmed that 2,000 troops are on standby to help coordinate the removal of people who have not to met the legal requirements needed to stay in the country.