Last Thursday, the Junta Central Electoral, through a resolution, applied the changes established in a ruling by the Superior Electoral Tribunal for the distribution of RD$1.62 billion as part of the financing of political parties, and from that sum RD$120 million favors in equal parts the PRM, PLD and Fuerza del Pueblo, who went from RD$400 million to RD$432 million, while some medium-sized ones went down a level.“One of the main weaknesses of the Dominican electoral system lies in the lack of effective controls over the resources used in the campaigns. It needs robust regulations, it needs to be more regulated, and one of the things it has to regulate is precisely the financing,” he stated.
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When interviewed by Elvis Lima on the program Fuera de Récord, produced by the channel Catorce TV, Cabrera considered that the only way to face this reality is through reforms that strengthen the current regulations.“People are already becoming disillusioned. And I’m not saying that, a study says that, and that’s dangerous. Why? Because when people say: ‘Ah, no, but this is what they told me democracy was. No, no, this doesn’t work,’ ” he specified. He also deplored that non-compliance with the Electoral Law continues to be a recurring practice among political organizations, as no one wants to respect it, which constitutes another element of institutional fragility. “There is a law that says when the campaign begins, but everyone wants to violate it. The traditional parties want to campaign out of season,” he expressed.“There’s no other way than with reforms and policies that protect political organizations and hinder the ease with which organized crime figures penetrate the parties,” he stated.
