HOLY SUNDAY.-Based on the statements arising from political parties and some civil society entities, the ruling of the Constitutional Court 0788/24 that declares articles 156 and 157 of the Electoral Law not in accordance with the Constitution and that allows registration of candidates in all levels independently, opens the doors to ending the political system in the Dominican Republic.
The Institutionality and Justice Foundation (FINJUS) is in the group of those concerned, considering that this decision could dismantle the party system.
The position was expressed by its executive vice president, Servio Tulio Castaños, who emphasized that the measure distorts decades of efforts to strengthen the internal democracy of the parties.
“The emergence of independent candidacies without adequate regulation could foster a kind of ‘anti-political reason’, weakening the parties and dismantling the political system itself,” declared Castaños.
According to FINJUS, this scenario could generate spontaneous groups outside of institutional oversight, threatening the democratic stability of the nation. From the parties, criticism of the sentence has not stopped coming either.
Unified stance
The delegate of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) to the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Sigmund Freud Mena, stated that the main political parties have adopted a unified position in opposition to the aforementioned ruling. “There is a unified position from all the parties with whom we have spoken regarding concern about this decision.
Opening the possibility of independent candidacies without minimal regulation is dangerous, since political parties are quite regulated, from financing to their formation and electoral possibilities,” said Mena, from the PRM.
The political leader expressed that this ruling by the Constitutional Court poses serious technical and legal challenges, since, as he stated, it interferes with the powers of the National Congress.
“The Court identified how the law should be drafted regarding social groups, as it now calls them, which we understand invades the exclusive powers of the legislative power. “This represents a dangerous precedent,” he explained.
Freud Mena highlighted that political parties are enshrined in the Dominican Constitution as vehicles of citizen representation to achieve elective positions. According to article 216 of the Magna Carta, this function is exclusive to the parties, so the creation of different figures threatens the established political system.
It is in this direction that FINJUS itself expresses itself when speaking about the role of political parties. “Political parties are guarantors of democratic life and an important part of the institutional machinery.
Good rating
— Way of thinking
Studies such as Latinobarómetro reflect that more than 60% of the Dominican population considers that “there cannot be democracy without political parties.” Although political organizations face criticism for cases of corruption.
Sentence would generate party divisions
Policy. The PRM delegate also warned that the sentence could generate internal divisions in the political parties.
“Anyone who disagrees with a decision could choose to become independent, which would further fragment political organizations,” he said.
Finally, Freud Mena insisted on the need to guarantee that any opening to independent candidacies has minimum regulations to maintain balance in the national political system.
“We cannot allow the party system, as we know it, to be destabilized due to a lack of clear regulations in this new reality,” he concluded.
