According to a study by the Dominican Political Observatory affiliated to the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (FUNGLODE) 53% of Dominican legislators have been reelected as senator or deputy from two to seven times. There is no limit to re-election for legislators.
The study shows that this pattern of frequent reelection of candidates is reflected in the average age of members across both chambers – having increased from 45 to 54 years of age.
The study, entitled “The Age Characteristics of Dominican Legislators”, was carried out by Gaudy Crispin Rosa, coordinator of the Legislative Branch Unit of OPD-FUNGLODE, and Flor Esmirna Batista, a researcher in the same organization.
The authors explain that legislators on average have been active in politics for around 30 years before opting for a seat in Congress. There 190 deputies and 32 senators with an average age of 54. Most legislators were born between 1952 and 1962, with 125 legislators being between 52 and 62 years old. Very few legislators were born between 1974 and 1981.
The youngest deputy is Jose Ignacio Ramon Paliza Nouel (PRD-Puerto Plata) who is 34 years old and the oldest is Hugo Tolentino Dipp of the PRM, who turned 85 this year.
The Legislative Branch has no maximum age limit.
The study noted that over the last few years there have been several attempts to limit the number of times a person can stand for Congress. Imposing term limits for legislators would create opportunities for younger people and women to serve as lawmakers. However, at present the number of legislators under 35 is less than 1%.
As far as women are concerned, there are 44 female members of Congress (39 Deputies and 5 Senators), comprising only 21% and 13% of the members of the lower house and senate, respectively. That paucity of female representation in the legislature has placed the Dominican Republic in seventh place in Latin America for the least number of women legislators.
Investigación revela 53% de los congresistas se ha reelecto entre dos y siete veces