The Dominican Revolutionary Party (, PRD) is a political party in the Dominican Republic. Traditionally a left-of-centre party and social democratic in nature, the party has shifted since the 2000s toward the political centre. The party's distinctive color is white. Traditionally, the party has two presidents: the "Titular President" and the "Acting President" (and actually, a sort of Vice-President); until 2010 the presidents and the Secretary-General were proscribed to run for any elected office.

The party was founded in 1939 by several Dominican expatriated exiles living in Havana, Cuba, led by Juan Bosch. It was then established in the Dominican Republic on 5 July 1961. It was the first Dominican party based on populist and democratic leftist principles and an organization based on mass membership. Bosch was elected president in 1962 in what is generally believed to be the first honest election in the country's history. Bosch later left the party in a dispute over its ideological direction and founded the Dominican Liberation Party on 16 December 1973.

The PRD has won the presidency three other times—in 1978 (Antonio Guzmán), 1982 (Salvador Jorge Blanco) and 2000 (Hipólito Mejía).

At the legislative elections, on 16 May 2002, the party won 41.9% of the popular vote and 73 out of 150 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 29 out of 31 seats in the Senate of the Dominican Republic. Its candidate at the presidential election on 16 May 2004, Hipólito Mejía, won 33.6% of the votes, failing to win a second term.

In the 16 May 2006 legislative elections, the party formed together with its traditional opponent, the Social Christian Reformist Party, and others the Grand National Alliance, that won 82 out of 178 deputies and 10 out of 32 senators. The Dominican Revolutionary Party led the alliance, however, winning about 60 seats in the chamber of deputies and 6 in the Senate.

The party has been criticized for involvement in corruption, allowing right-wing paramilitary groups to operate from its soil for attacks launched into Haiti, and for becoming an increasingly conservative party serving the interests of transnational capital over the poor majority. The last PRD president, Hipólito Mejía, has been especially criticized for supporting the Iraq War.Sprague, 2013

Election history

Presidential elections ElectionParty candidateFirst roundSecond roundResultVotes%Votes%1962Juan Bosch628,04459.5%Elected 1966525,23039.0%Lost 1970Did not contest election19741978Antonio Guzmán Fernández866,91252.4%Elected 1982Salvador Jorge Blanco854,86846.7%Elected 1986Jacobo Majluta828,20939.2%Lost 1990José Francisco Peña Gómez449,39923.33%Lost 19941,253,17941.6%Lost 19961,130,52338.9%1,394,64148.7%Lost 2000Hipólito Mejía1,593,23149.87%Elected 20041,215,92833.7%Lost 2008Miguel Vargas1,654,06640.48%Lost 2012Hipólito Mejía2,130,18946.95%Lost 2016Endorsed Danilo Medina (PLD)2,847,43861.74%Elected 2020Endorsed Gonzalo Castillo (PLD)1,536,98937.46%Lost 2024Miguel Vargas19,7900.45%Lost

Congressional elections ElectionVotes%Chamber seats+/–PositionSenate seats+/–Position1962592,08856.5% 49 1st 22 1st1966494,57036.8% 23 2nd 17 2nd1970Did not contest election 26N/A 5N/A1974N/AN/A1978838,97350.1% 48 1st 16 1st1982825,00545.7% 14 1st 1 1st1986828,20939.2% 14 2nd 10 2nd1990447,60523.4% 15 3rd 5 3rd19941,244,44141.9% 24 1st 13 1st19981,075,30651.4% 26 1st 9 1st2002963,73542.2% 10 1st 5 1st2006931,15131.13% 10 2nd 22 2nd20101,272,53638.44% 13 2nd 72016336,2017.83% 61 4th 1 4th2020220,9395.52% 12 4th 1 5th202492,4412.17% 3 4th 4th

References

Sprague, Jeb (2013) La Española, sus coaliciones y la solidaridad entre sus fronteras. In English here: Dominican Republic News http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88549 Island of Hispaniola: Coalitions and cross-border solidarity

External links