Temple University emeriti professor, Dominican political expert Rosario Espinal in an interview published in El Dia newspaper says the challenge of the new administration of President Luis Abinader is to govern and leave his imprint on Dominican institutions and the country in general.
El Dia reports on the remarks made by Espinal:
Abinader had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, and then with the effort to get reelected. Now his task in his second government is to push forward reforms, including a tax reform. She says the government finances are in red and there is a need to transform the tax system. She mentioned other reforms need to be accomplished in the health, education and labor sectors.
Abinader has said he will not seek the Presidency again. In the interview, she observed that the PRM will have to find a mechanism to decide who will be the presidential candidate for that party in 2028-2032. There are several contenders.
She says the party needs to attract more women. She said it was an error to choose Guillermo Moreno, an outsider, for the National District senator, displacing senator Faride Raful who sought to be reelected.
Regarding abstention, she says that the high abstention of 45% can be attributed to the division of the former ruling party, the PLD. The PLD split into followers of Danilo Medina (PLD) and Leonel Fernandez (FP) discouraged many party members from voting. She said the PLD has also been weakened by being 16 straight years in government and by the corruption cases now heard in the courts.
Espinal also observed that the PRM as a political force has not attracted as many new followers as would be expected.
Read more in Spanish:
El Dia
27 May 2024