Five opposition parties demanded this Wednesday the Central Electoral Board (JCE) the holding of new elections to elect the mayor of La Vega, a position that was vacated when the Executive Branch appointed Kelvin Cruz as Minister of Sports, who was elected in the elections of May 19 of this year.
It was up to the vice mayor, Amparo Custodio, to occupy the position, but she also resigned from occupying it.
On August 23 of this year, the Municipal Council of La Vega swore in, in an extraordinary session, Joel Martínez as interim mayor of that city.
Martínez served as general secretary of the City Council.
The claimants
The opposition parties of the Dominican Liberation (PLD), Fuerza del Pueblo (FP), Dominican Revolutionary (PRD), Democratic Option (OD) and Social Democratic Institutional Bloc (BIS) demanded respect for the popular will, national laws and the Constitution of the Republic.
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In a document delivered at a press conference, they committed to “demand for all legal and constitutional lives the reestablishment of institutional order in the city council of the municipality of Concepción de La Vega, respect for the popular will and the holding of new elections.” ”.
They warned that this is “the only way to restore and respect these citizens.”
They demanded an “immediate” response from the JCE to their request, in a document in which they committed to working towards that objective.
“The signatory parties have agreed to take this fight to the last resort for the good of the municipality of La Vega and the maintenance of the institutions that have been stolen from us since August 16 by the former mayor, the president of the Republic, and the ruling party.
They added that “this fight is not only for one party but for all political parties, for the preservation of democracy, legal security and the guiding principles of our Dominican legal system.”
The document states in its recitals that “several voices of law and respected authorities such as Milton Ray Guevara, former president of the Constitutional Court and lawyer Jorge Prats, have supported this theory under logical legal arguments.
The aforementioned organizations adhere to the same request submitted to the Central Electoral Board (JCE) by the Democratic Option Party (OD), on August 26 of this year.
The request is signed by the provincial presidents Bolívar Marte, of the PLD, Enrique Ramírez, of the FP; Cristian Steffano González, from the OD, Fidel Núñez, from the PRD and Guillermo Taveras, from the BIS.
Case history
In the elections of May 20 of this year, Kelvin Cruz, candidate of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), was reelected mayor of the municipality of La Vega.
However, on August 16 of this year he resigned from the position because he was appointed Minister of Sports by President Abinader.
The vice mayor, Amparo Custodio, to whom the position corresponded, also resigned.
Custodio, leader of the Frente Amplio, argued that he was leaving the position to the PRM, so that that organization can choose and appoint whoever they understand, because the mayor’s office corresponds to them.
“We have a set of values and principles, so we would not deprive that party, which nominated Kelvin Cruz, of its right to appoint the person they understand,” said the leader of the Frente Amplio on that occasion. whose position was supported by that party entity.
Several sectors of La Vega have demanded that the PRM resolve this situation, arguing that it affects the institutionality of the municipality.
