The National Progressive Force ( es, Fuerza Nacional Progresista o FNP), is a political party in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, with a self-described

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

position, although according to some, the policies it defends (mainly on moral and migratory issues) place it on the spectrum as something closer to a party of the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

. Currently the party is in sixth place of preference of the electorate.

History

The founding of the FNP on July 6, 1980, with the motto "Peace, Justice, Liberty", by Marino Vinicio Castillo, was regarded by many as a declaration of independence from

Joaquín Balaguer Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo (1 September 1906 – 14 July 2002) was a Dominican politician, scholar, writer, and lawyer. He was President of the Dominican Republic serving three non-consecutive terms for that office from 1960 to 1962 ...

. The Party participated in general elections for the first time in 1982, with Castillo as a presidential candidate. Nevertheless, since the FNP had been recognized by the ''Junta Central Electoral'' only two months before, its impact was negligible. In 1986, with Castillo running as a presidential candidate for the second time, the FNP gained 6,684 votes, equivalent to 0.32 percent of those registered. In the 1990 elections, Castillo again ran, this time seeking backing from the poor, the peasants, and all Dominican "who hoped for a decent future". To this end, Castillo promised a more even distribution of wealth by way of agricultural reform. For Castillo, this constituted a basic, fundamental structural change. The FNP proposed to more fully integrate the various sectors of Dominican society, to stimulate production, to combat narcotics traffickers, to fight against corruption, and to improve sanitation. These perspectives were not enough to significantly improve the FNP performance over 1986. Since 1996, Castillo has been allied with the PLD and has become a major electoral support during the past two elections of the winning

Progressive Bloc The Progressive Bloc () is an electoral alliance in the Dominican Republic. The alliance is led by the Dominican Liberation Party The Dominican Liberation Party ( Spanish: Partido de la Liberación Dominicana, referred to here by its Span ...

2006 Parliamentary elections

In the parliamentary elections of 2006, the FNP had two candidates elected to the Chamber of Deputies: *Pelegrín Castillo, Distrito Nacional *José Ricardo Taveras,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

2008 Presidential elections

In the presidential elections of 2008, the FNP gained 48,554 votes, equivalent to 1.19 percent of those registered.

2010 Parliamentary elections

In the parliamentary elections of 2010, the FNP just had one candidate elected to the Chamber of Deputies: *Pelegrín Castillo, Distrito Nacional

References

{{International Democrat Union Political parties in the Dominican Republic International Democrat Union member parties Conservative parties in North America Liberal conservative parties Liberal parties in North America