Political analyst Flavio Dario Espinal comments today in El Caribe on a modality in political clientelism being introduced by President Hipolito Mejia as part of his efforts to win votes. Espinal says that this time around, Mejia is directly conditioning the receipt of government funds or assets on his being re-elected. This practice, Espinal says, is turning citizens into electoral slaves. The dean of the Law School at the PUCMM university explains that those being offered the perks are compelled to vote for the statesman to collect on the promise. He says this modality is different from past tactics, when a politician would deliver bags of food or construction materials and the voter could accept the goods, but maintained ultimate autonomy over whom to cast the vote for. ?This new political patronage is doubly damaging for Dominican democracy,? writes Espinal. He points to the use of government revenues for programs that are openly seeking voters, which is a violation of the electoral law. He secondly mentions that the way it operates undermines the independence and freedom of the people to exercise their vote, and thus, degrades their status as citizens.?