Eight separate challenges of the Political Parties Law 33-18 have been sent to the Constitutional Court within its first two months of going into effect. Opposition parties, middle ranking directors of the ruling PLD party, the Fundación Prensa y Derecho, and independent lawyers have presented the motions that seek to annul the implementation of the law that passed on 15 August 2018 to regulate the 2020 general elections.
The law has been accused of being a press gag law. Its Art. 44 restricts publishing “negative messages” in social media that could affect the public image of the candidates, among other debatable articles. Miguel Franjul, editor of Listin Diario and regional IAPA vice president, said at the most recent Interamerican Press Association general assembly in Salta, Argentina that the law is a threat to freedom of press in the Dominican Republic.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
El Dia
22 October 2018
