The dean of the Law School at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, Flavio Dario Espinal, criticizes the electoral reform bill presented by Tirso Mejia Ricart to the Chamber of Deputies and recommends in his contribution to El Caribe today that the PRD find a way to resolve its problems that does not affect the rest of the political system. The bill, known as the Voto Preferencial Presidencial, replaced the original Ley de Lemas bill sent to Congress at the start of January as a proposed solution by the Group of Three dissident candidates to the impasse in the ruling PRD party regarding the choice of their presidential candidate for the 16 May election. Because the Ley de Lemas bill was so blatantly a violation of the Constitution, the new bill was prepared to try to get around the overwhelming general public opposition.
Espinal highlights, however, that Mejia Ricart’s electoral reform bill also breaches the Constitution in how it attempts to instate “simultaneous double vote,” which means the voter would be voting for a political party while he is voting for a candidate. “This vote would be crucial because it would enable the party to move on to participate in the second round election, in case no individual candidate receives 50%+1 of the vote,” he explains. The Dominican Republic’s Constitution establishes that the President of the Republic is elected by direct vote. Espinal also points out that the bill’s author has tried to draw a parallel between the new proposal and the preferential vote system approved for the election of deputies in the Dominican Republic. Espinal says this does not hold water, either, and explains that the preferential vote system can be applied to the deputies because the law states that several need to be chosen per province or National District. “Presidential election is different because the Constitution establishes that it must take place between candidacies presented by the political parties and that the candidate who receives the most votes becomes the President of the Republic.” In case none of the candidates receives 50%+1 of the vote in the first round, a second round is held with the participation of the two most voted candidates. Espinal also points out that the proposed bill violates the principles of acquired rights and reasonability. For comments, write to Flavio Dario Espinal at fdespinal@codetel.net.do