Followers campaign heavily, yet President Danilo Medina is mute on reelection

In an interview in August 2018 with TV host Jatnna Tavarez, President Danilo Medina had told the nation he would announce in March 2019 whether or not he would back an amendment of the 2015 Constitution to enable him to run for a second reelection. The 2015 Constitution was reformed to enable him to run for his first reelection in 2016.

The President has not given his position, but his followers have revved up political activities nationwide backing his staying in power. And his sister, legislator Lucía Medina has told government workers to get to work for his candidacy in order to ensure their own jobs. Political campaign activities are banned by the Electoral Regime Law, but the dispositions are ignored by the JCE and those called upon to enforce them, as Al Pais former presidential candidate, Guillermo Moreno remarks in an op-ed feature in Diario Libre on 1 April.

The decision on whether he will seek the PLD presidential candidacy needs to be announced after a meeting of the Political Committee of the ruling PLD party. A party meeting has been set for Monday, 1 April 2019. The Political Committee needs to address Medina’s aspirations and those of party president, former three-term President Leonel Fernández, the leading contender for the PLD presidential nomination.

Premature campaigning by political candidates is normal. The JCE had given a 15-day deadline for political party pre-candidates to remove their billboards. This is contemplated in Political Parties Law 33-18. The responsibility, nevertheless, for the removal has been left to up to the budgets of city governments.

The Central Electoral Board (JCE) schedule for the election is that the pre-campaign deadline for the choosing of the pre-candidates is 7 July 2019, with the parties needing to deliver the names of the pre-candidates that will participate in the 6 October 2019 simultaneous primaries to the JCE by 22 August. The winners of the primaries will be announced no later than 16 October 2019 and need to be registered at the JCE by 25 October 2019.

Other key dates on the general election schedule are:
7 June 2019. Deadline for alliances and mergers.
27 October 2019. Deadline for election of candidates by parties not using the primaries modality.
16 February 2020. Municipal and legislative elections.
20 May 2020. Presidential and vice presidential election.

Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
Diario Libre
Diario Libre

1 April 2019