PLD internal crisis deepens ahead of presidential candidate consultation

The opposition Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) is facing a severe internal crisis just 20 days before its scheduled citizen consultation on October 16, which is meant to select the party's presidential candidate for the 2028 elections. Two leading aspirants, Abel Martínez and Francisco Javier García, have publicly criticized the integrity of the process and the neutrality of the organizing commission (Conap) Source: listindiario. The party is also struggling to project a unifying leader, as its president and former President Danilo Medina is constitutionally barred from seeking the presidency again Source: listindiario.

The consultation mechanism

The PLD plans to use the October 16 consultation to identify the aspirant who will receive the party's institutional backing before the legal pre-campaign period begins in July 2027 Source: eldiado. While the consultation does not legally grant the candidacy, its winner is expected to gain a political advantage that would be difficult to reverse in the formal selection process Source: eldiado. The party argues this strategy is necessary to avoid entering the pre-campaign period without a clear presidential figure, unlike its main rivals, the PRM and Fuerza del Pueblo Source: eldiado.

Internal divisions and historical context

This is not the first time the PLD has used such a mechanism. In October 2022, a similar consultation favored Abel Martínez, who later became the party's candidate for the 2024 elections Source: eldiado. However, the current process is already generating discord. Francisco Javier García has accused the organizing commission of altering the voter roll, and the Central Electoral Board (JCE) has declined to support the consultation Source: eldiado. The party's history is marked by a catastrophic split in 2019, when Leonel Fernández left after losing the primary to Gonzalo Castillo, founding Fuerza del Pueblo Source: listindiario. Since then, the PLD's electoral performance has declined sharply, from 66.3% of the vote in 2016 to 37.41% in 2020 Source: listindiario.