Nine opposition parties have proposed changes to the political parties and electoral bills that that were resubmitted by the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to the legislature that resumes its work on 27 February 2018.
A key proposal is that party primaries be held with the participation of party members and not the general voting list of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) that has had the support of PLD members close to President Danilo Medina. The proposal is also that all the political parties hold their primaries on the same day but with just their voting list of members.
As reported in Diario Libre, the proposal has been endorsed by the PRM (54 deputies), PRSC 11, Alianza País 1 and Frente Amplio for 67 legislators of 289. Of the 289 legislators, 190 are deputies and 32 senators.
The bills are organic laws that need two thirds of the vote for these to pass. The 67 opposition legislators votes could mean the difference in the passage or rejection of the bills. 142 votes are needed to pass the organic law if all legislators attend the session in which the voting will occur. The opposition composes 65 of the 190 legislators. The ruling party would need to convince 17 opposition candidates to support PLD initiative with the open primaries clause. Open primaries were rejected by a Supreme Court of Justice ruling in 2005.
The proposals made by the opposition parties also call for establishing quotas and limits for fixed and fair time in terms of candidates’ access to the media. Also the initiative calls for quotas for women in political positions, a ban on tax exemptions, donations and gifts on behalf of government entities, including city governments. The parties also called for political parties to be held accountable and have to render accounts of expenditures of funds provided to the parties by the state for political activities. Also, it is proposed that the reserved candidacies be a maximum of 20% of the elective positions among other recommendations.
The participating political parties making the joint request are:
Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM), Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC), Partido Alianza País (AlPaís), Partido Humanista Dominicano (PHD), Partido Dominicanos por el Cambio (DxC), Frente Amplio (FA), Fuerza Nacional Progresista (FNP), Alianza por la Democracia (APD), Partido Revolucionario Social Demócrata (PRSD), Opción Democrática (OD) and the Partido Socialista Cristiano (PSC).
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
19 February 2018
