Participacion Ciudadana, a leading civic society group, publishes a paid advertisement in the press alerting against the perils of the Ley de Lemas in Congress today. The organization highlights that the bill is impossible to implement with only four months to go before the election; violates articles 17, 49, 90, 91 and 119 of the Constitution; falsely equates itself to the preferential vote of deputies; instead of strengthening parties, will contribute to the further division of the parties and increase political patronage; and, lastly, leaves itself open to judicial recourse for violation of the Constitution. The main objection is that Article 49 of the Constitution establishes that the President of the Republic will be elected by direct vote. Participacion Ciudadana emphasizes that the Ley de Lemas would instate a system whereby the possibility of adding up a party’s votes could absurdly result in a candidate with many more direct votes than his competitors not being elected, if the other aspirants of his party do not generate enough votes. The civic organization calls the implementation of the Ley de Lemas a step backwards for Dominican democracy.