SANTO DOMINGO.- The Alianza País and Democratic Option parties announced the breaking of the political merger that kept them under the same acronym since 2019.
In a statement signed by the leaders of both organizations, Guillermo Moreno and Minou Tavares Mirabal, appeals to differences in political culture, visions and working methods that, despite efforts, could not be harmonized.
“Under these circumstances, at a meeting of the National Political Commission, held on Sunday the 8th of this month, both parties, duly represented, voluntarily agreed to separate, since in fact the merger process did not take place,” the statement said.
They assured that from now on, they decided to respect the particular positions of party lives, promote mutual respect and maintain cordial relations.
In a conversation with EL DÍA, Pedro Martínez, one of two Alianza País deputies, assured that they would try to maintain relations in those things in which they could.
Although he did not give details, one of the things that both organizations will have to agree on will be the permanence of the block of deputies composed, in addition to Martínez, by José Horacio Rodríguez, who was originally a member of Democratic Choice.
This is so because to function as a bloc, at least two legislators are required or else they must run as independent representatives, which limits their level of influence in the legislative chambers.
The merger between the two organizations originated fundamentally due to the complexities to which the newly recognized political parties were subjected, to which they were denied economic assistance from the State and at the same time a percentage of the vote was required, which was cataloged by Tavares Mirabal at the time as a sentence to disappear.
In the event called to formalize the merger of both organizations, a spirit of optimism was breathed for 2019 among those summoned but that gradually faded, evident in the minimal media exposure of Tavares Mirabal and later in the discomfort of many of its members.
The bleeding started in February of this year. With the resignation of at least 135 leaders for alleged “outrages, lack of respect, denial of rights, persecution, marginalization, violations of the Statutory Norms and Guiding Principles”, by the party’s senior leadership.
The renouncers belonged to the municipalities of Santo Domingo Este, the National District, and Boca Chica.
“We are leaving, but not for our homes, but to continue working for the true change of course that this country needs,” they specified.
The number of resignations was denied by Alianza País stating that there were only twenty-two and that some of them were suspended for having stopped attending the meetings of their organizations.
But later on, José Horacio Rodríguez criticized the leadership of the party headed by Moreno, inviting it to “overcome the centralist, undemocratic and transparent nature of the current administration of Alianza País, because it constitutes a weakness that hinders our own growth and makes it impossible to our strength.”
Rodríguez criticized that the management bodies did not receive the financial reports and that the explanations were verbal and superficial; that the accounts were not clear and that the party’s institutional portal had not been updated since 2018.
