DR: Electoral Debates Could Be Mandatory

On Thursday, it was announced that the Commission of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) of the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic approved a favorable report on a bill that would oblige candidates for elective office to participate in debates.

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The ruling was approved and signed just at the closing of the legislature and provides that the aspirants who do not attend the political dialogues organized by the JCE will be sanctioned with the total restriction of the spaces destined for the promotion of their pretensions.

"It provides for the mandatory attendance and participation of candidates for the presidency and vice presidency of the Republic, the National Congress and local governments to at least one of the public debates organized by the JCE," the report states.

The document comes from two bills proposed by legislators Jose Horacio Rodriguez, Melido Mercedes, Pedro Martinez, Aida Lopez and Mateo Espaillat, reported Diario Libre.

The tweet reads, "The president of the JCE, Román Jáquez, shares with the attendees the 18 key messages they should keep in mind for the DR Municipal Elections 2024 this February 18."

The referred report states that the topics to be discussed must be previously agreed upon with all the political groups of the aspirants, as well as with academic and civil society institutions.

In addition, it states that the same must be transmitted by the public media available to the State. The debate will be recorded in the JCE's digital portals so that citizens may access them after they have been held.

Likewise, the legislative document states that each debate will deal with different topics relevant to the national interest, so that the candidates can go deeper into each of them in their interventions.

The five congressmen authors of this idea argue that Law 20-23 itself attributes to the JCE the responsibility of promoting the realization of debates on the programs presented by the parties.

However, the congressmen argue that no regulation obliges the candidates for elective office to discuss their ideas publicly.

They claim that these debates promote transparency and accountability of these people, while they refer that the lack of obligatory nature causes them to be held intermittently or irregularly, which affects the promotion of the vote in the country.

More than eight million Dominicans are summoned to the polls this February 18 for the municipal elections, while the presidential elections will take place next May.