The Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) came forward yesterday to oppose a RD$500-million disbursement of taxpayers’ money to the Central Electoral Board (JCE) for the organization of the political parties’ primary elections, as per a modification to the Electoral Law pushed through Congress recently. The PRSC called this a disservice and an affront to Dominican society at a time when the country is undergoing a severe economic crisis.
The JCE has requested a RD$2.46-billion budget from the Executive Branch for 2005. Of this, RD$487.3 million would be used to fund the primaries of the nation’s political parties.
The president of the PRSC, Federico Antun Batlle, and the parties’ political delegate to the JCE, Sergia Elena Seliman, concurred that what the country needs is austerity. They said that the disbursement cannot be justified and that the money the JCE is demanding to organize the primaries would be put to better use by funding a general wage increase for workers or in social programs that tackle the problems currently being faced by the Dominican people.
The law will be debated in a workshop at the Mariott Courtyard today, with the participation of senators, representatives from the Central Electoral Board and the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS), and Participacion Ciudadana civic group, political parties, among others.