President Leonel Fern?ndez was in Villa Altagracia, half an hour away from the city of Santo Domingo, to hand over 132 apartments to low income persons, many victims of natural disasters. One beneficiary decided to take advantage of the presence of the President to ask for a little more. He requested that the President assist the beneficiaries of apartments by also donating a bed, chair and stove to each. Unpleasantly surprised by the request, President Fern?ndez replied: "Good-looking, if we took you up on your request, one day you will ask us to get you a wife." His response met with enthusiastic applause by the attending crowd. The incident was living proof of what findings of a recent poll have disclosed: Dominicans have a father-son relationship in regards to the presidency. The poll carried out by the Instituto de Estudios de Poblaci?n y Desarrollo with United States Agency for International Development funding as part of the Proyecto para el Apoyo a Iniciativas Democr?ticas administered by the Pontificia Universidad Cat?lica Madre y Maestra, showed that 82% of Dominicans feel that the President of the DR is like a father who can solve everyone’s problems. 50.4% say that a strong leader will do more for the country than all the country’s laws and institutions. 65% favor that there be more order, even if there is less democracy. The survey thus revealed there is a paternalistic attitude towards the presidency, despite a general desire for more democratic participation. More than half of Dominicans favor the re-election of President Leonel Fern?ndez, according to the survey. Most reject that congressional and municipal elections are being held separately, and 65.2% do not favor the holding of a second round in the presidential election if anyone candidate does not attract 50%+1 of the vote. Of the changes in the electoral law, those surveyed only favor the closed electoral voting stations (colegios electorales). President Leonel Fern?ndez is the most admired contemporary politician, followed by former President Joaqu?n Balaguer and Jos? Francisco Pe?a G?mez. Furthermore, the study showed that Balaguer is perceived by the population as "the leader that has contributed most to the development of democracy in the country." The study was carried out between 17 June and 28 July of 1997 and was directed by sociologists Isis Duarte, Ramonina Brea and Ram?n Tejada Holgu?n.
