Dominican Liberation Party

The Dominican Liberation Party[lower-alpha 1] (Spanish: Partido de la Liberación Dominicana, PLD) is a political party in the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1973 by former president Juan Bosch, the party, along with the Dominican Revolutionary Party, have dominated politics in the country since the establishment of democracy.

Dominican Liberation Party Partido de la Liberación Dominicana
Abbreviation	PLD
Leader	Danilo Medina
President	Temístocles Montás (Interim)
General Secretary	Reinaldo Pared Pérez
Founder	Juan Bosch
Founded	15 December 1973 (1973-12-15)
Split from	Dominican Revolutionary Party
Headquarters	Independence Avenue 401, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Newspaper	Vanguardia del Pueblo
Ideology	Social democracy Third Way Republicanism Populism Nationalism
Political position	Centre to centre-left[1]
International affiliation	Foro de São Paulo
Regional affiliation	COPPPAL
Colors	Violet and Yellow
Anthem	"Himno del Partido de la Liberacion Dominicana" "Hymn of Dominican Liberation Party"
Chamber of Deputies[2]	67 / 190
Senate[3]	6 / 32
Mayors[3]	65 / 155
Central American Parliament[3]	8 / 20
Website
www.pld.org.do
Politics of the Dominican Republic Political parties Elections

Juan Bosch, first president of the Dominican Liberation Party (1973-2001)

Leonel Fernández, second president of the Dominican Liberation Party (2001-2019)

Overview

The party has been elected into office five times now, with Danilo Medina as current President of the Dominican Republic, in the 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections, though losing in 2000. In May 2006 the party and its allies gained control of both houses of Congress.

At the legislative elections, 16 May 2002, the party won 29.1% of the popular vote and 41 out of 150 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 2 out of 31 seats in the Senate. Its candidate at the presidential election of 16 May 2004, Leonel Fernández, won 57.1% of the vote.

Founded by Juan Bosch in 1973, the PLD originally was considerably to the left of Bosch's original party, the Dominican Revolutionary Party. Bosch ran for president as the party’s candidate several times, but did not win. Following Bosch’s retirement, Fernandez became the leader of the party and won the 1996 presidential elections after forming an alliance with Dr. Joaquín Balaguer, Bosch’s political enemy for over 30 years. He did not run for another term in 2000, but returned to the presidency in 2004. The party's logo is a yellow five-pointed star on a purple background.

In the 16 May 2006 legislative elections, the party led the Progressive Bloc, that won 96 out of 178 deputies and 22 out of 32 senators.

On May 16, 2008, presidential elections were carried and PLD candidate Leonel Fernández won 54%, defeating 7 other presidential candidates.

On May 16, 2010, congressional and municipal elections held, the Dominican Liberation Party won a majority of Senators (31 of 32) and Representatives, as well the largest number of mayors around the country.

On May 20, 2012 the PLD won its third straight Presidential elections with its candidate Danilo Medina, with 51.2% of the vote, against former President Hipólito Mejía, from the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) who obtained 46.9% on these elections.

By 2016, the PLD has retained the Presidency of the Dominican Republic for 16 out of the previous 20 years, and has become the only party in the Dominican Republic to have attained this achievement in the country's democratic history after the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo which lasted between 1930 until 1961.

On July 5, 2020, the party's 16-year rule in the Dominican Republic officially ended after losing to the rival Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM).[4]

Full members of the Political Committee

Member	Admission	Age (as 02/13)
Euclides Gutiérrez Féliz	1973	76
José Joaquín Bidó Medina	1973	80
Felucho Jiménez	1978	63
Lidio Cadet	1982	80
Danilo Medina	1990	61
Leonel Fernández	1990	59
Juan Temístocles Montás	1990	62
Alejandrina Germán	1995	63
Eduardo Selman	1995	71
Jaime David Fernández Mirabal	1996	56
Reinaldo Pared Pérez	2000	56
Bautista Rojas Gómez	2001	61
Cristina Lizardo	2001	54
Francisco Javier García	2001	53
Franklin Almeyda	2001	70
José Tomás Pérez	2001	57
José Ramón Fadul	2001	60
Ramón Ventura Camejo	2001	59
Radhamés Segura	2001	63
Rafael Alburquerque	2004	72
Carlos Amarante Baret	2006	52
Alma Fernández	2006	62
Julio César Valentín	2006	46
Radhamés Camacho	2006	54

Temporary members of the Political Committee

Member	Admission	Reason	Age
Abel Martínez	2010	Elected President of Chambers of Deputies	40
Margarita Cedeño	2012	Elected Vice-President of the Republic	47

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Party candidate	Votes	%	Votes	%	Result
		First Round		Second Round
1978	Juan Bosch	18,375	1.1%	-	-	Lost N
1982		179,849	9.8%	-	-	Lost N
1986		378,881	18.4%	-	-	Lost N
1990		653,595	33.79%	-	-	Lost N
1994		395,653	13.1%	-	-	Lost N
1996	Leonel Fernández	1,130,523	38.9%	1,466,382	51.3%	Elected Y
2000	Danilo Medina	796,923	24.94%	-	-	Lost N
2004	Leonel Fernández	2,063,871	57.1%	-	-	Elected Y
2008		2,199,734	53.83%	-	-	Elected Y
2012	Danilo Medina	2,323,463	51.21%	-	-	Elected Y
2016		2,847,438	61.74%	-	-	Elected Y
2020	Gonzalo Castillo	1,536,989	37.46%	-	-	Lost N

Congressional elections

Election	Votes	%	Chamber seats	+/–	Position	Senate seats	+/–	Position
1978	18,565	1.1%	0 / 91		3rd	0 / 27		3rd
1982	174,464	9.7%	7 / 120	7	3rd	0 / 27		3rd
1986	387,881	18.4%	16 / 120	9	3rd	2 / 30	2	3rd
1990	625,929	32.7% in alliance with UD	44 / 120	28	2nd	12 / 30	10	2nd
1994	467,617	15.8%	13 / 120	31	3rd	1 / 30	11	3rd
1998	654,713	31.3%	49 / 149	36	2nd	4 / 30	3	2nd
2002	657,658	28.8% in alliance with BIS and APD	41 / 150	8	2nd	1 / 30	3	3rd
2006	1,387,878	46.4% as part of the Progressive Bloc	96 / 178	55	1st	22 / 32	21	1st
2010	1,380,601	41.71%	93 / 183	3	1st	28 / 32	6	1st
2016	1,794,325	41.79%	106 / 190	13	1st	26 / 32	2	1st
2020			75 / 190	31	2nd	6 / 32	20	2nd

Notes

1. "Dominican Liberation Party" is a mistranslation from Spanish to English since the party’s actual name is not Partido Liberación Dominicana but Partido de la Liberación Dominicana. The correct translation is Dominican Liberation’s Party or Party of the Dominican Liberation, rather than Dominican Liberation Party.

External links

• Dominican Liberation Party official site

References

1. "La factibilidad política de las reformas del sector social en América Latina" (PDF). CEPAL, United Nations. p. 49.
2. "Busque sus Diputados". Cámara de Diputados de la República Dominicana. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
4. https://news.yahoo.com/dominican-republic-votes-election-postponed-004941501.html