US political analyst Johathan Hartlyn, professor of Political Science and a specialist in Latin American politics, has warned that the party system in the DR could enter a great crisis if political organizations do not make use of the current situation to introduce important internal changes. He pointed out that the divisions that have taken place in two of the main political parties have made it necessary for these organizations to reform themselves, whereas the Partido de la Liberacion Dominicana (PLD) has the great challenge of attaining a “relative success” in its government administration. Hartlyn, who has participated as an observer at the country’s last electoral processes, stated that there has been a lot of progress – particularly on the technological side – but there are still some negative elements, such as the use of state resources in partisan campaigning, acts of violence during the processes and the lack of credibility of the Central Electoral Board.
Hartlyn is the author of The Struggle for Democratic Politics in the Dominican Republic (1998)