Dominican Liberation Party

Dominican Liberation Party Partido de la Liberación Dominicana
Leader	Leonel Fernández
Founded	15 December 1973 (1973-12-15)
Headquarters	Independence Avenue 401, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Ideology	Liberalism Social conservatism Progressivism Modernization
Political position	Centre
International affiliation	Foro de São Paulo
Colors	Violet
Website
www.pld.org.do
Politics of the Dominican Republic Political parties Elections

Leonel Fernández, the leader of the Dominican Liberation Party

The Dominican Liberation Party (Spanish: Partido de la Liberación Dominicana, or PLD) is one of the main political parties of the Dominican Republic, and has a centrist position.

Overview

The party has been elected into office four times now with Danilo Medina as President of the Dominican Republic, in the 1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012 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. Today the party is seen gravitating towards a more centrist platform and embraces many neoliberal policies. 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 Fernandez Reyna 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 20th, 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 will have retained the Presidency of the Dominican Republic for 16 out of the previous 20 years, and will become the only party in Dominican Republic to have attained this achievement in the country's democratic history, after the dictatorship of Generalisimo Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina which lasted between 1930 until 1961.

Political Direction Members

• Leonel Fernández, President.
• Reinaldo Pared Pérez, General Secretary.
• Cesar Pina Toribio
• Alejandrina Germán
• Alma Fernández
• Bautista Rojas Gómez
• Carlos Amarante Baret
• Cristina Lizardo
• Danilo Medina Sánchez
• Eduardo Selman
• Euclides Gutiérrez
• Félix Jiménez
• Francisco Javier García
• Franklyn Almeida
• Juan Temístocles Montás
• Jaime David Fernández Mirabal
• Julio César Valentín
• José Tomás Pérez
• Lidio Cadet
• José Ramón Fadul
• José Joaquín Bido Medina
• Margarita Cedeño
• Ramón Ventura Camejo
• Rhadames Caamacho
• Radhamés Segura

See also

• Liberalism
• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberalism worldwide
• List of liberal parties
• Liberal democracy

External links

• Dominican Liberation Party official site