How does everyone feel about Leonel being the next President?

If I could vote, it would be for Leonel. He initiated some very progressive things during his first term and would like to see him back in office.

There were complaints about Leonel during his first term, but now many of the complainers are wondering why having seen the alternative.

trina said:

How do you feel about Leonel being the next President? Are you only voting Leonel because he's the lesser of all evils and to rid yourselves of Hippocrito?

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That seems to be the general consensus. My family and all our friends in the DR are going w/ Leonel, but they're not in love with him. They are at their wits end. It doesn't look good Trina.

Tough decisions..

trina said:

If Hippo doesn't cheat to win this election, how does everyone feel about Leonel being elected for President again? As far as I'm concerned, any President stepping in after Hippo is going to have a terrible term, sifting through the cr*p he is leaving behind. Many Dominicans hated Leonel during his term, but many also liked Leonel, and would've liked to see him continue to a second term.

How do you feel about Leonel being the next President? Are you only voting Leonel because he's the lesser of all evils and to rid yourselves of Hippocrito?

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You are given the choice of living on a desert island with Ted Bundy or Martha Stewart.

Like you Trina, I do not feel that I see the whole picture here. However, talking to Dominican friends and professionals, the main criticisms against Leonel are that (1) he was perhaps too US centric and (2) that he did not do enough for the poor - in fact, that he lost touch with the poor totally and with his constituency. I was talking with some young Dominican professionals last week (hipolito supporters mostly because of family ties) and they quite seriously believe that the hipo is indeed helping the pobre, citing examples of him giving away building materials and so on and so on. Short-term thinking I know, but they were quite serious about this.

A 30-ish female laywer told me in quite some despair that obviously the hipo must go, but that they do not feel that Leonel is the best other option, so, she feels like she has to choose between bad and somewhat better, but not bad and good.

A rental car business owner in Cabarete told me just a few days ago that he feels he is financially and economically better off with Hipo, than what he was with Leonel. He said that with Hipo, he has money in his pocket and can feed his family, with Leonel, he was always struggling for money, despite running the same business. (OK, I know that he is not taking the exchange rate fluctuations into consideration, but nevertheless, this is his opinion.)

These are just observations and what I have heard from people. I've been here too short a time to assess what it really means.

Trina: You must understand that The PRD is the largest party in The DR. It's been like that for a long time. The only times they didn't win, was because they were out-maneuvered by Balaguer. How did they get to be the largest party? They give away a lot of stuff to their members...They don't really care about the country as a whole, just the PRD people. When Hippo became president one of his "advisors" - Gomez mazara - was caught on tape giving a speech where he said that every bit of money or any resource was going to be given away or used by the PRd and for PRD people only, AND it there was anything left after that, they would take it and give it to the PRD.
So the main complaint against Leonel and the PLD was that they were "comesolos" - They didn't spread the wealth. Why? because they didn't put tons of people to "work" for the government like The PRD and Balaguer did. You and I understand that to be good thing, but people don't see it that way in The DR. People down there are looking for what they can get out of a particular party (screw the country...What's in it for me?)
If Leonel was to win, I think you'd see a very different government than before. I think they will act a lot more like the current PRD than the old PLD. I think you'll see a lot more populist measures taken, such as maintaining the gas and electricity subsidies, giving away food bags, etc...

Hi[polito has added more than 50,000 government employees!

But then you must have noticed the "HUGE" improvement in Government Services,RIGHT?????
Leonel made large investments in the infrastructure of the Country!
If you live in "La Capital" it is much easier to get around,and to Boca Chica,the airpaort,and to San Pedro too!
Hipolito "Mortgaged" the future of the DR and it's people!He used the money to line the pockets of the "Faithful",and pay back to 80 principle investors in "Baninter",who would have lost 2 Billion US Dollars!
He continues to steal what is left!
The choice is clear!
LEONEL MUST WIN!!!
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trina said:

I personally think that Leonel could've ran 2 consecutive terms if law allowed (wasn't it Leonel that changed this law, or am I wrong?).

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No, he was the first president elected after the constitution was changed. Ballaguer had his term cut short and Leonel was elected but only able to serve one term.

I dont like Leonel, but given the choices, its the lesser of two evils. I think Leonel is going to have a very tough first half of his term. I hope Dominicans understand this and give him their support by casting out the thieves in Congress and the Senate. Otherwise, he wont have the pull to do what must be done.

trina said:

Sam, for what reasons don't you like Leonel? It seems like many say this, but they don't express the "why's" of it all. I'd like to get a better understanding of it.

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Its my impression the guy has double standards, he was the first president to cut the protected areas and natural parks! Now he acts as if Hipolito is doing something new.
The infamous Paquetico Fiscal that Hipolito implemented was first drafted during his presidency. He didnt succeed in implementing it only because the PRD was already a majority in the senate already and where opposing Leonel in every initiative he took.
Its true he did lift up the quality in our public services and the investments but some of those improvements where there from before, such as the postal service which everyone agrees worked extremely well during his period but no one remember the head of the postal service was there since Balaguer.
If its true we were enjoying a bonanza during his period, its alsotrue that it was not all his doing but most of us have forgotten that and give him full credit. There is also the state of the world and the previous governments achievements in controling foreign debt aswell as the influx in cash that we collected after hurricane George which led to a boom in construction in the private sector. Most believe it was al Leonels doing and genious but I know it really wasnt. For these reasons I can not trust him.

Also he has a lot of favours to pay back to people I think should be behind bars.

But, given the choices, he is definately the lesser of the two evils.

If I may answer for samian.

I truly want to see Hip?lito out, but am not happy about the return of Leonel. My ideology, which I adopted somewhere around 1994, was that no president that was mediocre or worse deserved a second term. Getting Hip?lito out fits with my scheme, but accepting Leonel doesn't. I rather have a bad new guy than see incompetence rewarded with four more years (and I realize that to many Leonel was stelar, but opinions vary).

Many people see in Leonel a charming guy who's part of the same old politics, only bound to get worse. One of the advantages of the PLD's first term was that the party was small and had a tradition of discipline that helped them govern in order. Like suarezn says, if the PLD grows, this advantage is bound to thin out. Anyway, in many areas this discipline helped the PLD greatly, and PLD followers say that this is the only reason that they got the unjust nickname of 'comesolos'.

However, the party wasn't free of corruption. The PEME scandal, vented out after Leonel's term, is marked at RD$400 million. Compare that with the RD$40 million of Pepegate, and you get some perspective of how the PLD came out swinging in its first term. But it is a testament to the good PR tactics of the PLD and the horrible PR tactics of the PRD that Pepegate served as a more damaging tool. Leonel faced the PEME scandal head on, and was boosted from it. Hip?lito blundered Pepegate like everything else and is still hurting from it. After all, Pepe Goico was involved in scandals in Leonel's term and Balaguer's. A similar case was the scholarship scandal, where some RD$ 100 million in scholarship funds were handled in an ill manner. The names of the recipients of the scholarships haven't been ousted, to avoid hurting innoncent recipients, but the price tag on each scholarship is high to enough to pay for 4 years doing doctorate work at an Ivy League university. Where did that money go? Various PLD officials were mentioned at the time.

El "Comesolismo", as it has been called, had some aspects that were quite illegal. It wasn't just about a small payroll (which was small in persons, not in pesos) that left out workers. The tactics of the PLD breached many contractual obligations. All governments have done this, but in the other cases most people got a share of the pie and kept quiet. Balaguer sorted out many projects among a handful of contractors and cronies (Guin(?) Moya, 'Bebecito' Mart?nez, Pedro Hach?, etc), while Leonel seemed to route all projects through one person, Diandino Pe?a.

Also, Balaguer's cronies handled the easy technical (though profitable) jobs, such as the new Postal Service offices, "La Plaza De La Salud", housing projects and urban streets. These projects are cash cows, easy to build compared to other things. Balaguer still put the complex jobs up for contest. Many engineers got a hand in things by winning legally contracts to build dams, energy plants and irrigation canals. These projects usually involve partnerships between local and foreign companies, and are in consequence more transparent. Many people will dispute this, but the PLD government took steps back in this process, despite appearances to the contrary. One of the biggest companies in electrical contracting today arose during the PLD term and as it turns out, it is headed by a former top official during Leonel's term. To those looking, this is a sign of the same old politics, but sugar-coated. The projects started during Leonel's term are dubious to say the least.

Leonel also failed to boost the provinces, which cost his party the 2000 and 2002 elections. The PLD is strong in Santo Domingo, where Leonel endeavoured to create his vision of "un Nueva York chiquito". Outside, it's quite easy for the PLD to lose ground.

In my opinion. If the 2003 crisis hadn't taken place, Hip?lito could be spitting at cameramen and Leonel would have a tough time beating him. It is only because of the PRD's gross mismanagement of the crisis that Leonel has one cheek on the seat.

In closing, you can still contest that Leonel is the lesser evil. But many people have cause to not be in love with the guy. Mushy 's' don't make the guy Sean Connery!

trina said:

Thank you, Chris. I'd like to see a lot more responses like this. It's funny through all these above observations, the short-term mentality of the Dominican people prevails (sorry for the generalization to the Dominicans who do not buy into this way of thinking). This must come through many years of despair and little hope. As far as Leonel being too US-centric, I can see where it can pose a problem...the DR will never be able to offer the riches and resources the US possesses, so modeling itself after the US would be fruitless.

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Maybe not on such a grand scale...but I don't know if you've noticed, but this is a country that has tons of God given resources!!! Beautiful beaches, very very very fertile soil, warm weather, gold, silver, gypsum, iron, marble, lots of fresh water, strategic position in the middle of the caribbean...the list goes on and on.
Just think about all the bad governments we've had for the last 100 years. They have stolen a lot!!! and we still have left over... The only true problem with the Dominican Republic is us...The Dominican People. When we stop begging and start working towards a better future, when we think further than 2 weeks into the future and read a book once in a while, things will be better...I think we have the potential to go far...we just lack the vision and the will.
(Governments keep it that way by not educating the population)

Bundy vs Stewart

trina said:

That's quite the analogy ! Come on, elaborate, please...

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Well, both of them have criminal tendencies, but I'd feel a bit safer bedding down next to Martha than a mass murderer.