Former President Danilo Medina made a rare appearance in public on 17 October 2021, during a swearing-in ceremony in San Cristóbal of new members to the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). Medina had been keeping a very low profile since the party lost the 2020 election while anti-corruption prosecution has targeted several of his brothers and sisters as heads of a major corruption network that operated during his eight years in government. After the loss, a party convention named Medina the party president.
Medina was encouraged by the vote count that shows that Eduardo Hidalgo, who had the support of the PLD, is likely to win the presidency of the highly politicized Dominican Teachers Association, the public school teachers union. Deductions are made to school teachers that give the association a RD$400 million annual budget.
Speaking for half an hour, Medina stated: “The PLD was not dead, it was on a spree.” Medina, said that the “overwhelming” victory of the former ruling party in the elections of the Dominican Teachers Association (ADP) makes all remember that that organization is still a political force to render with.
“History begins to turn again. Many people believed that the PLD was dead, it was not dead, it was on a spree,” he said. His message “to the many people who thought the PLD was dead,” is that the “party woke up about 15 days ago when the Dominican Association of Teachers was held and people realized that the PLD was still alive and kicking.”
This was the first participation of the former President of the Republic in a multitudinous swearing-in ceremony since last year’s electoral process when the PLD lost control of the Executive Branch for the first time since 2004. Medina says the party will be back in power in 2024.
“The people are going to ask the PLD to return to govern. The people have understood that the future of the Dominican Republic is with the PLD. We are going to work because we can win again based on past track in government. Maybe we deserved to leave power, but not for more than four years. I hope it will only be a 4-year vacation,” said the former statesman.
He spoke at the swearing-in of some 3,095 people as members of the PLD.
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Listin Diario
18 October 2021