Archive for March, 2020
It seems that on average, only 30% of eligible citizens voted in the municipal election. In the National District, the capital city, the preliminary vote was 24% with 54% of the votes counted. Analysts will be answering many questions as they look into several of the possible reasons for the high abstention.
Did the Covid-19 scare have an effect on voter turnout? Did the young people go to the beach instead of voting? Or was it that the ruling PLD party voters not turn out after polls said they were losing? Were government employees a large part of those who didn’t vote? Did the PLD political patronage model collapse? Was the turnout just normal for a separate municipal election? Were people just tired after being asked to vote for a third time? What effect did the canceled municipal election of 16 February have on the rescheduled election given that people have not been given a clear explanation for the e-voting glitch?
Actually, the last time a separate municipal election was held was in 1968. There were joint municipal and congressional elections held in 1998, 2002 and 2006, when the vote was around 40%.
Source: DR1, CDN
Mar 17, 2020
The general verdict to be read from the municipal election is that the Dominican people want new authorities to govern the country. The leading opposition party swept most of the 158 municipalities in the country. When the vote count was stopped at 2:55am on Monday, 16 March, the PRM was the clear winner of the election, despite a record high abstention.
The PRM lead in 14 of the 19 municipalities with the most population. The PLD lead in Santo Domingo North and Santiago.
In the National District, with 54% of the votes counted Carolina Mejia of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) had a comfortable lead of 60% to 38% of her nearest contender, Domingo Contreras of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD).
In Higuey, Karina Aristy running for a coalition of the Partido Liberal Reformista and the ruling PLD, lost her bid for a fifth city government to the coalition of parties backing PRM candidate Rafael Duluc “Cholitín,” with 68% of the votes counted. Duluc maintains an almost double amount of votes to Aristy. This election could have an effect on the bid for reelection by senator Amable Aristy Castro, a long time political kingpin in the east of the country.
In Puerto Plata, the PRM candidate Roquelito García of clearly defeated incumbent Walter Musa who sought to be reelected for a fourth time with the backing of the ruling PLD. With 58% of the vote counted, García was winning with a difference of 50% to 35%.
In Santiago, incumbent Abel Martínez running for the PLD will be the second largest city mayor for another four years. With 70% of the votes counted, Martinez had a lead of 45% to 34% over the PRM candidate, Ulises Rodríguez. Martínez ran for the PLD, but he also had the backing of former President Leonel Fernandez, a PLD dissident. Martinez is regarded as the best mayor the city has had over the past two decades.
Manuel Jimenez, running for the PRM, pulled a victory in Santo Domingo East, the municipality with the most eligible voters in the country. With 54% of the votes accounted for, He had 51% of the vote to 30% of Luis Alberto Tejeda of the ruling PLD.
Source: DR1, Elcaribe
Mar 17, 2020
Hand Rolled Cigars
International Imports
Sosua, Dominican Republic
You can add your own logo
Call to Order
Tel: 809-801-5756
Despite the fact that several countries have closed their borders and restricted the arrival of people from China, Italy and other nations as a preventive measure to COVID-19, the Dominican Republic still allows the entry of passengers arriving from those countries through different airlines.
This is confirmed by a statement from the JetBlue airline, in which its clients are informed that all those who have been in China in the last 14 days will only be able to travel to Punta Cana (PUJ) and Santo Domingo (SDQ), and no another destination in the Dominican Republic.
So far, the Dominican Republic has taken restrictive measures with flights from Italy, however there are passengers who have entered the country making stops at other terminals such as Spain, among others.
JetBlue has used its digital channels to inform its customers of the measures they have taken against the new coronavirus and of the restrictions that exist in the destinations to which they travel.
Source: Supernoticias
Mar 13, 2020
A commission of technicians from the US Federal Transportation Administration (TSA) is inspecting the airlines that operate regular flights from the DR to the United States, to ensure they are complying with the Covid-19 preventive measures, recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to the protocol put into effect by the WHO, airline personnel must ask passengers about their origin and report any flu-like symptoms passengers may have.
As reported, the TSA officers who arrived last Sunday, will remain until Saturday, 14 March 2020. The officers are also inspecting Dominican airports and the standards and levels of security established in the terminals by the Specialized Airport and Civil Aviation Security Corps (CESAC).
They are meeting with the managers of the airline companies to ensure more strict and responsive compliance with preventive measures to reduce the possible spread of the coronavirus-19.
Source: DR1, Listindiario
Mar 13, 2020
The staging of the rescheduled municipal elections on Sunday, 15 March 2020 is said to cost Dominican taxpayers RD$1,578 million, according to the budget approved for the event by the Budget Agency. The Medina administration has said that RD$753 million will be available for distribution to political parties participating in the event.
As reported in El Dia, the elections have cost the government more than RD$4 billion, of which RD$1,008 million were allocated to purchase the now discard e-voting devices.
Public Health Minister Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas explained that the extraordinary municipal election scheduled for Sunday, 15 March 2020 would not be compromised by the Covid-19 virus because so far there has been no community spread in the country. The Health Minister maintains that the country’s first six confirmed cases have all been imported.
The Citizen Participation (Participación Ciudadana – PC) civic movement announced on Tuesday, 10 March 2020, that it will deploy more than 2,600 election observers during the extraordinary municipal elections to be held on 15 March. The election is the same that was aborted on 16 February after the e-voting machines did not upload the opposition ballots correctly. The number of observers is 30% more than the 1,800 accredited observers that had been approved for the earlier election.
Sonia Diaz Inoa, the general coordinator for PC, said that the observers will be stationed at the 158 Municipal Electoral Boards. She said the observers will be divided into those that will be mobile, observing the election day in different voting places and in the streets, and those that will oversee the opening of the voting tables to the transmission of the vote in one of the voting centers.
She said that democracy and transparency of the process depend on each and every citizen.
A digital platform, https://atentocontuvoto.org/ enables citizens to report any irregularities on election day. The platform provides a georeferenced map for reporting irregularities and crimes during the campaign days and on the election day. It enables the posting of photographs, videos or audios.
PC also encourages people to send cases of irregularities and more on the election to them at delitoelectoral@pciudadana.org or the WhatsApp 809-764-4952.
“These tools are for each citizen to commit to being a guardian of our weak democracy so that we do not remain silent if we witness any electoral crime or offense and report it,” she said. The new facilities are enabling the organization to gather evidence on political patronage and motivate the state to undertake its responsibility to combat this practice.
“Democracy is built by all of us, and the transparency of the process depends on each and every one of us. This tool is for each citizen to commit to being a guardian of our weak democracy so that we do not remain silent if we witness any electoral crime or offense and report it,” she said.
https://z101digital.com/participacio…s-municipales/
Source: DR1, z101digital
Mar 12, 2020
The XXIX Copa Merengue is being played at the courts of the Parque del Este Tennis Center. The event is a J2 level youth tournament (U18), the third-highest in the ranking of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). For the event, 154 players from more than 30 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia are coming. Weronika Baszak from Poland, ranked 11th in the world in the junior category, is playing in the tournament.
Competitors are boys and girls 18 years or younger. The winners add 200 points to their ITF Junior ranking. Winners of doubles get to add 150 points.
The Dominican Republic is represented by Ana Zamburek, Alejandro Gandini, Alejandro Santana, Enmanuel Muñoz, Maikel Villalona, Daniel Baquero, Lía Espinal, Kissmel Cedano, Ana Pérez, Valeria Schad, Yanire Marte and María Mella.
The event is taking place from 9 – 14 March 2020 and is on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors calendar.
https://www.itftennis.com/en/tournam…-dom-02a-2020/
Source: DR1, itftennis
Mar 12, 2020
Yo Smoker Cigar is a newly opened shop in Cabarete. Since November 2019 we have been offering 70 different flavors (all are natural!).
- Large selection
- Various sizes
- Mild, Medium, Strong
- All hand-rolled using a mix of international leaves brought to DR
The cigars can be also purchased online in various boxes and delivered directly to your home. We accept Visa, Mastercard, PayPal using Shopify.
Contact details:
Carretera principal
Cabarete town center, DR
www.yosmoker.com
