The split between the two major forces in the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) resulted in the government for the first time not holding a majority in the Chamber of Deputies. 27 legislators that maintained their loyalty to former President Leonel Fernánde, the former president of the PLD, announced they would form a separate block, La Fuerza del Pueblo (The People’s Force).
A political analysis in El Dia points out that this change in the composition of Dominican politics creates a third opposition force. The article explains that opposition legislators are now 96 of 190 legislators in the Chamber of Deputies, or a simple majority.
As reported in El Dia, the breakdown of political forces in the Chamber of Deputies is now as follows: The Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) now has 54 deputies. The Social Christian Reformist Party has 11. The Broad Front (Frente Amplio), Country Alliance (Alianza Pais), Social Democrat Institutional Block (BIS), the Christian Quisqueyan Democrat Party (PQDC) each has one deputy.
The Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) has 76 deputies. Their ally, the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) has 14. Others that have expressed their backing to President Danilo Medina are the Liberal Reformist Party (Partido Liberal Reformista) with two, and the Christian Popular Party (PPC) and Moda party with one each.
The El Día political analysis remarks that nine legislators who have backed President Leonel Fernández did not skip the PLD because they had won PLD candidacies during the 6 October 2019 primary and chose to continue to run for the party. The writer says this is not a guarantee that when voting they will follow the PLD party line.
The ruling PLD party has been the majority in the Chamber of Deputies over the past 13 years. The lower house had been many times described as serving to rubber-stamp what the Executive Branch sent for approval. The government continues to be majority in the Senate.
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El Dia
7 November 2019