Dominican Republic’s Former Ruling Party Feuds Over Its 2028 Candidate
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —The country The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, has about 11 million people and is the Caribbean’s most visited destination. It elects a new president in May 2028, and President Luis Abinader cannot run again.
- —The background The Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) governed for 20 of the 24 years to 2020. It split in 2019 over a disputed primary, and its 2024 candidate came a distant third with 10.4 percent.
- —Why now The party holds an internal vote on 18 October to find its strongest hopeful. Its leaders were due to meet on 28 September to settle who may vote, after the national electoral board refused to lend voting machines.
- —What happened On 23 September hopeful Francisco Javier García said about 523,000 people had been cut from the voter list to favour a rival. The organisers denied it on 25 September.
- —Who is who Four hopefuls remain, led in one poll by 2020 candidate Gonzalo Castillo. The 2024 candidate, Abel Martínez, refuses to take part. Party chief Danilo Medina, president from 2012 to 2020, is barred from running.
- —What it means for you Nothing changes for residents, visitors or investors now. The fight shapes who challenges the ruling party in 2028, and a weaker PLD leaves Leonel Fernández’s party as the main alternative.
- —Still open Whether the 18 October vote goes ahead without state equipment, whether all four hopefuls accept the result, and who is formally nominated in the second half of 2027.
The Dominican opposition party that once dominated national politics is fighting itself again over who should lead it into the 2028 election. The Dominican Liberation Party, known as the PLD, governed the Caribbean nation without a break from 2004 to 2020.
On Monday 28 September its leaders were due to gather to fix the voter list for an internal vote on 18 October. One hopeful says half a million names were cut to help a rival, and the electoral board has refused to lend machines.
A party that ran the country for 20 years
Juan Bosch, a former president, founded the PLD in 1973. Under Leonel Fernández and then Danilo Medina it won five presidential elections between 1996 and 2016.
The break came in October 2019. Fernández narrowly lost a primary to Gonzalo Castillo, Medina’s favourite. He alleged fraud and founded a new party, Fuerza del Pueblo (People’s Force).
The count, supervised by the Central Electoral Board (JCE), which runs Dominican elections, gave Castillo 48.3 percent to 47.3 percent.
The PLD lost power in 2020 to Luis Abinader of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), with Castillo taking about 37 percent. In 2024 its candidate, Abel Martínez, finished third with 10.4 percent, behind Abinader and Fernández.
Medina still chairs the party, but the constitution bars him from another term. The country’s politics and economy are set out in this Dominican Republic explainer.
The fight over 523,000 names
The PLD calls its 18 October exercise a consultation. Any registered voter who does not belong to another party may take part, not only members.
On 23 September Francisco Javier García, a former tourism minister and hopeful, said about 523,000 people had been removed from that list. He told a radio programme the move was meant to help Castillo.
“They have turned this internal process into a Persian bazaar,” he said. He claimed party central committee members were being offered 1 million pesos (about US$16,900) each, 10 percent up front.
No evidence of the offers has been made public, the newspaper Diario Libre noted. The dollar figure uses the central bank’s reference rate of about 59.3 pesos per US dollar.
The disputed names are roughly a quarter of the 2.16 million members the party has on file with the electoral board.
The organising commission, known as Conap, replied on 25 September that nobody had been struck off. It said the 523,781 people also appear on the membership lists of at least one other party.
They have until noon on 8 October to confirm, online and then in person, that they belong only to the PLD. “Nobody has been excluded from the party’s register,” the commission said.
Why the electoral board said no
The PLD asked the JCE to lend it 1,800 electronic devices for the vote. The board refused in a letter made public on 25 September.
It said such an event is “not among the acts permitted by law at the current stage of the electoral calendar”. It had lent 500 devices for training.
Dominican law sets fixed windows for parties to choose candidates. The commission itself says the formal nomination must take place between July and October 2027, under the 2018 law on political parties.
So it calls 18 October a non-binding measure of support, not a primary.
Four hopefuls, one absentee
The central committee approved eight hopefuls in February. Four have since withdrawn, one of them to back Castillo.
Those left are García, Castillo, Francisco Domínguez Brito, a former attorney general, and Manfred Mata. A CID Latinoamérica poll reported on 23 September put Castillo ahead of Martínez and García among PLD sympathisers.
Castillo carries a legal cloud. In May a judge ruled he should not stand trial in a large corruption case. State lawyers appealed in June; he calls it political persecution.
Martínez, a former mayor of Santiago, the country’s second city, refuses to join the consultation.
What comes next
The commission was due to hand out the final voter list, rules and timetable on Monday. Disputed members have until 8 October to re-register.
The last such consultation, in 2022, drew a little over 500,000 people by the party’s count. Turnout will show how much pull the PLD still has.
The result will not make anyone the official candidate. That choice comes in the second half of 2027, and the winner on 18 October could still face rivals then.
Nor does the row mean a formal split. No hopeful has left the party, and García was still campaigning for the vote on 27 September.
The stakes lie in 2028. Abinader, re-elected in 2024, cannot run again, and a divided PLD would leave Fuerza del Pueblo as the ruling party’s clearer challenger.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the PLD?
The Dominican Liberation Party was founded by former president Juan Bosch in 1973. It governed from 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2020, and is now in opposition.
Is the 18 October vote the party’s official primary?
No. The organisers call it a non-binding measure of support. Under Dominican law the formal nomination must happen between July and October 2027. The electoral board refused to lend equipment for this vote.
Who is likely to be the PLD’s candidate in 2028?
Nothing is decided. Four hopefuls are in the race, and one September poll put Gonzalo Castillo, the 2020 candidate, in front. The 2024 candidate, Abel Martínez, is staying out of the consultation.
When is the next Dominican presidential election?
In May 2028. President Luis Abinader is in his second term and cannot run again, so the main parties are all choosing new candidates.
Sources: Listín Diario, PLD internal crisis, 28 September 2026, El Día, PLD alleges boycott plan, 28 September 2026, El Día, electoral board refuses equipment, 25 September 2026, El Día, Conap reply on the voter list, 25 September 2026, Diario Libre, PLD race enters final phase, 25 September 2026, Diario Libre, assembly moved to 28 September, 24 September 2026, Listín Diario, García interview, 23 September 2026, Listín Diario, commission response, 26 September 2026, Listín Diario, eight hopefuls approved, 22 February 2026, Diario Libre, appeal in Castillo case, 29 June 2026, Noticias SIN, CID Latinoamérica poll, 23 September 2026, Banco Central de la República Dominicana, reference exchange rate. All retrieved 28 September 2026.
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