Saturday, May 17, 2008

And the winner is...

As predicted, Leonel Fernandez has won his third victory as president. His first and second term were not consecutive, so this is only his second "consecutive" term, as serving three consecutive terms is currently unconstitutional (though I have read he wants to change the constitution to get rid of term limits).
It was very interesting to follow the elections last night. I followed via Dr1.com which had an election forum. It was helpful and I learned way more about Dominican politics in one day than I had learned from my 3 years here previously. It is sad to see how corrupt the elections and politics are here, though not surprising. I heard numerous accounts of buying votes (on both sides) and buying cedulas (government ID cards used in voting) so people could vote numerous times for one candidate.
So, is this good or bad? I have no idea. From what I read, many people (As in the 60% that didn't vote for him) are just glad that the PRD (white party) isn't ruling the country. The PRD was at one time the main party in the country, and the economy went downhill during one PRD president's time in office, though I won't pretend to know the cause. However, from what I hear, there are still many skeptical about Leonel (presidents here are called by their first name). Anyway, there's still a lot I don't understand. But it was fascinating to see it all at work.
Now just to figure out the U.S. elections... ;)

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