The president of the ruling Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRM), Jose Ignacio Paliza urged legislators to not repeat the past error and choose persons with strong political ties for the Central Electoral Board (JCE).
“There are many persons that are members of political parties and are honest and transparent, but they have political ties and that is a distorting element,” has said President Luis Abinader who has openly called for the senators to choose an “independent” JCE. He says his position is against selecting persons who have been active recently in politics.
The Senate ruling gives senators 60 days to choose the five members and five alternates of the government body in charge of organizing the presidential, congressional and municipal elections. The JCE is also responsible for the civil registry.
The Senate committee in charge of assessing those applying for the positions announced 321 valid candidacies for the positions.
There are many controversies. Eddy Olivares is one of the most controversial applicants. A former JCE judge, he is best known in recent years for his strong political stand in favor of Mejía. For years he has been the spokesperson for former President Hipólito Mejía. Mejía competed against President Abinader for the PRM presidential candidacy. Olivares argues he has always acted with independence. He said he has taken a leave of absence from the political party to apply for the position.
Another controversial candidate is Román Jáquez Liranzo, president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) who has clashed with the Dominican Liberation Party, the former ruling party, with decisions that have affected their positioning.
Each candidate will have five minutes to present why they should be chosen and then will need to respond to three questions. A preselection of candidates will then be presented to the Senate for a vote.
In the past all members of the JCE had to be lawyers. For this year’s vote, only the president of the JCE needs to be a lawyer with at least 12 years of practice, older than 35 years, in full civil and political rights. For the other positions, a minimum age of 30 years is required. The law mentions these having a background in management, IT, law or related fields.
Diario Libre today publishes in its print edition a list of the 321 applicants.
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Listin Diario
Listin Diario
N Digital
25 September 2020