The statements of former President Leonel Fernández that the Force of the People party that nominates him as a presidential candidate will create “voting defense committees” with ex-military officers at each polling station yesterday raised various reactions, heating the political environment six weeks after the municipal elections .
“We will be near the polls. The People’s Force will be vigilant at these steps, ”Fernández said last Monday.
Yesterday, the former Chief of the National Police, Rafael Guillermo Guzmán Fermín, informed that at the last meeting of general coordinators of the Veterans Force Movement with Leonel 2020, the ex-president approved the proposal that 5,000 veterans serve as delegates in municipal and general elections from 2020.
Hours later, the Delta Circle, composed of retired military personnel and civilians who define themselves as “a non-partisan group of citizens committed to the defense and promotion of the highest values and democratic principles,” said that organization does not participate in partisan politics, although any member of it can do it in a personal capacity.
Police Director
The director of the National Police, Major General Ney Aldrin Bautista, said that the polling stations cannot enter armed, except for the members of the Electoral Police, which will be directed by the Central Electoral Board.
Through a video broadcast on social networks, Guzmán Fermín said he expects the military to send the list of future delegates to their municipal and provincial coordinators to start training.
“That list is sent to General Germosén or General Almánzar so as soon as possible to begin training and training for this; and that is really going to be the biggest contribution to guarantee the victory in the next elections, because with Leonel Fernández and the People’s Force we will win, ”says Guzmán Fermín in the video.
The PLD reaction
The political delegate of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), Danilo Díaz, reacted to Leonel’s call saying that it is not a war to send soldiers, but a civilized election.
On Thursday Leonel returned to the subject by stating that the PLD is an expert in electoral fraud, which found the response of the current president of the purple party, Temístocles Montás, who asked the former governor if he made fraud in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 elections where the PLD won in the first round.
During a bus delivery ceremony, the Presidential Administrative Minister, José Ramón Peralta, described Leonel’s statement as “painful” that he will send retired soldiers to defend the vote at the polling stations.
Delta circle
In a statement signed by retired generals Antonio Jáquez López, Homero Luis Lajara Solá and Carlos Altuna Tezanos, founding members, the Delta Circle made it clear that it does not participate in any way in partisan political activities and indicated that they are disconnected from any individual action of one of its members, “that in its legitimate democratic right decides to participate in some partisan political project or tendency.”
Background
In May 2012, the former Police Director, Pedro de Jesús Candelier, said he would create teams of armed men to prevent the purchase of ID cards at the polling stations against the presidential candidate of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), which in that moment was former president Hipólito Mejía.
“We are going to create teams outside, armed because we have to tell the eaters alone, because we cannot allow blackmail, we cannot allow them to buy the conscience of the voters outside the polling stations,” Candelier said at a meeting in Cotuí.
In May 2008, the PRD presented a block of retired soldiers headed by former heads of the National Army, Navy, Dominican Air Force, National Police and the Military Aid Corps, to prevent fraud against Miguel Vargas Maldonado.
Incidents
Cotuí 2012
The director of the Preventive Police, General Juan Brown Pérez, reinforced security in several voting centers in Cotuí, which was understood as a response to the fact that retired General Pedro de Jesús Candelier was in charge of that area, representing the PRD and He had promised to defend the vote with armed men.
May 2019
On May 12, a group of former police chiefs expressed their support for Leonel’s presidential aspirations. Among those present at the event were Pedro de Jesús Candelier, José Armando Polanco Gómez, Bernardo Santana Páez, Guillermo Guzmán Fermín, José Paulino Reyes de León, Robinson Brea Garó, Antonio Segundo Imbert, José Aníbal Sanz Jiminián and Camilo Antonio Nazir Tejada.
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