Even though we are not in election campaignyes it seems that we are in policysince the internal struggle in the political parties has reached the Santo Domingo Metro carson board the bustling buses and the concho carswhere discussions about candidates have become as dense as the traffic in rush hour.
Far from being just vehicles mass public transportation in the Dominican Republic, these have become vibrant scenes and passionate about conversations on current or viral topics in social networksseries of Netflix or other platforms. They become “mandatory” to combat the heat and distance.
However, and despite everything else, they are the discussions of the partisan politics those that dominate the panorama, becoming the most “hot” and popular among citizens who travel by means of transport in the Greater Santo Domingo.
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No matter if it is a short trip or a long journey, it is almost inevitable to hear fragments of debates about the current governmentthe upcoming electionsthe performance of the officials and the proposals of the different matches. Now, in recent days the issue of who will be the PRM presidential candidate It is the most common chatter.
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“The government is alone, since there is no opposition here.” “Now any official who has a payroll in his hands believes he is presidential.” “Yes, there are many bastards who, just because they have a politically sound last name, believe they can be president.” These are some of the phrases heard in the Santo Domingo Metro and other means of mobilization.
Although political gossip is heard some days and hours more than others, in the train cars—regardless of the line—because it is the most important medium in the country due to the number of people of the most varied nature. social classit is not strange that people express what they experience in the neighborhood.
In buses, flyers and public carsthe fashion topics They are our daily bread. This has a logical explanation: these vehicles are more exposed to long blockages already intense heat wave from day to day life in Greater Santo Domingo.
“They come and go, damned governments, and the traffic jams continue to get worse every day. We have more expensive tires, more expensive oils, and the food is not worth mentioning,” he said. Juan Antonio Espinaldriver of the “Derecho Puente” route in the Saint Vincent de Paul Avenue.
In a classification carried out during the last two weeks, on a non-continuous basis, between conversations of users of the information systems public transportmassive or not—such as the subway, public cars, taxi drivers, city buses WHOSA and flying—, this is the excerpt.
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Regardless of the medium, during the time of field work for this report, the mayor of the National District, Carolina Mejíaseems to be the preferred figure to represent the PRM in the next presidential elections. David Colladocurrent tourism ministeris the second most mentioned, while the other candidates show a significantly lower margin of support.
“I think that Carolina Mejía and David Collado are the natural candidates for the PRM. They are the ones who have the time and the structure. Now, of them I will choose Carolina, since I think she is better because she is very popular, she does not seem like a woman of posturing and, above all, she has good work to exhibit.”
“Here you find out everything,” he says. Maria Elena Sanchezfrequent Metro user, while waiting for her train at the station Maximo Gomez. “People argue about whether the president is doing well, whether prices are going to rise or who should be the next candidate.”
“You learn a lot by listening to others,” he says. Juan Carlos Rojasresident in The Isabelitawho uses a bus from the route 11 to get to work widening La Fe. “Sometimes there are strong discussions, but other times they are interesting analyses. Here you see the different sides of the coin.”
The public car drivers and buses They are also witnesses and, sometimes, active participants in these debates. “We talk about everything, politics, baseball, daily life, and even the house of Alofoke and the mansion of Luimmy“, explains a concho driver in the February 25th Avenue.
“Look, Leonel was not a bad president and he can surprise in the next elections. Danilo did a very bad job for the country, and Luis is going down the same path if he doesn’t make the changes he should make,” he commented. Wander Martíneza regular user of the 25 de Febrero Avenue route, who was heading to work in the Colonial City.
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The pre-electoral situationthe economic situation and the national current affairsamplified by the immediacy of the social networksfuel these conversations. Users, of various ages and social strata, share their opinionsthey vent their frustrations and express their hopestransforming travel time into a true verbal controversy.
