The ruling Partido de la Liberacion Dominicana (PLD) has spent more on TV advertizing during the current presidential campaign than all the other political parties combined. A survey sponsored by a group called Citizen Participation found that the PLD paid for 52% of all TV ads on all channels since July, 1999. The Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) is in second place with 26%, while the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano came in third with 20%. Minor parties paid for just 2% of TV ads, according to the survey, which was conducted by an impartial organization, the Center for Monitoring Communication media. The total value of expenditures by all the parties for TV is DR$85.7 million (around US$5.4 million), with DR$44.5 for the PLD, DR$22.2 for the PRD, and DR$17.4 for the PRSC. The figures exclude the cost of radio spots, newspaper ads, placards, signs and banners, insignia-emblazoned hats and tee-shirts, and all the rest of the campaign paraphernalia.
