2022News

Will these be the presidential candidates in 2024?

Luis Abinader, Abel Martínez and Leonel Fernández / De Ultimo Minuto Net

President Luis Abinader is the leading presidential pre-candidate. He is expected to run for a second term in May 2024. His likely contenders are former President Leonel Fernández of the newly formed People’s Force (FP) and the most voted in the 16 October Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) presidential candidate consultation, Santiago Mayor Abel Martinez.

In the case that the pre-candidate Abel Martinez becomes official in the party selection scheduled for October 2023, the party will need to find a candidate for Mayor of Santiago. Martinez has been successful and is highly-rated as mayor of Santiago.

On 19 October 2022, the PLD issued the final tally indicating a vote of 479,744 valid votes. Of the total, 301,664 or 62.88% were for Abel Martinez, the winner of the consultation.

Bulletin #10 indicates that Abel Martinez received 301,664 votes (62.88%
Francisco Domínguez Brito received 93,969 votes (19.59%)
Margarita Cedeño 73,817 votes (15.39%)
Maritza Hernandez 4,891 (1.02%)
Karen Ricardo 3,3348 (0.70%)
Luis de Leon 2,055 votes (0.43%)

The president of the PLD presidential candidate consultation, Alejandrina German said that in some 502,262 votes were cast during the 16 October 2022 consultation. Upon giving the final tally of the vote, German stated that she hopes the other candidates who participated in the process will work together with the candidate who the consultation established as the most popular. This was agreed to by the candidates who participated in the 16 October 2022 consultation.

Germán said the official proclamation of the presidential candidate of the Dominican Liberation Party will be made within the period established by the Political Parties Law 33-18. The law opens the campaign for candidates in July 2023. Primaries and activities to choose the candidates in October 2023.

Political consultant Felipe Vallejo said that the third place of former Vice President Margarita Cedeño was because she did not benefit from a political structure and the mobilization of her followers. Vallejo said that Cedeño, who had been first lady for eight years and Vice President for eight more, with active participation in state affairs, was the best-known candidate nationwide but this did not translate into votes. Vallejo is assistant for cyberpolitics at the Fundación Global, the think tank of Cedeño’s former husband, former President Leonel Fernandez.

Meanwhile, extensive questioning and remarks on the wealth of Abel Martinez are circulating on social media, not so in mainstream press. Martinez is a long-time member of the Central Committee and the Political Committee of the Dominican Liberation Party. He was a Deputy to the National Congress for the National District and served as president of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic in the period 2010-2016 that included the presidencies of former Presidents Leonel Fernandez and Danilo Medina. He is currently the Mayor of the city of Santiago de los Caballeros. Previously, he was a human resources director for the La Sirena store at Calle El Sol in Santiago, according to Maximo Laureano.

Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
N Digital
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
El Nuevo Diario

Maximo Laureano

20 October 2022