DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Miguel Martínez, general secretary of the Opción Democrática (OD) party, identifies citizen apathy and systemic inequality as the primary hurdles for emerging political organizations in the Dominican Republic. Elected in October 2024 through a direct vote by the members of the party, under a strict no-reelection policy, Martínez balances his role as a civil engineer with the “intense” responsibility of “motorizing” a party that operates without the vast resources of traditional political machineries.

The challenge of political antipathyMartínez argues that the greatest “silent adversary” is the deep-seated frustration of a populace that views all political parties as nests of corruption. To break this cycle of apathy, he advocates for consistent aligning political discourse with ethical practice to prove that politics can exist without clientelism. He...