Dominican sociologist Rosario Espinal, who is director of the Center of Latin American Studies in Temple, Philadelphia, explains that the DR has gone from a situation in which once ruled the ?come-solos? (those who eat alone), to one in which the ?come-muchos? (those who eat a lot) have taken charge. Espinal was referring to the term popularly applied to the PLD government that defined the party as a small group reaping benefits for its exclusive enjoyment. She explains that to pacify feuding leaders within the party, the current President has had to resort to political patronage to the benefit of the leaders of the feuds and their followers.
?When you use the state to benefit groups within a party, this leads to a problem of administrative incapability and political irresponsibility, with its series of negative consequences,? says Espinal in an interview with Ana Mitila Lora of the Listin Diario.
?The problem is that the PRD lost a sense of its mission. The most important challenge President Hipolito Mejia is tackling is how to keep his party together. His strategy has been to distribute power and resources among the many sectors within the party.?
She further explains that this works against the efficiency of the state to truly resolve the real social needs of the country.
She laments these occurrences because the PRD controls almost all the powers of the state with a majority rarely seen in a democratic country. ?This means the PRD has little excuse for not achieving what it has to achieve, despite the adverse international conditions,? she said.
In her opinion, the political class, for its own survival, needs to control the excesses in constitutional manipulation, corruption, political patronage and confrontation and start thinking that they themselves could benefit from greater common sense and social and political responsibility.
