Country Alliance (Dominican Republic)
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The Country Alliance (, ALPAÍS) is a political party in the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
founded in 2011 by Guillermo Moreno and other citizens. Despite being a recently formed party, it has had a relatively positive acceptance by the population, obtaining in some polls even around 15% sympathy, according to the Greenberg-Diario Libre pollster.


History


Origins

For the 2008 presidential elections, a group of social, citizen and political organizations, protected under the name of "Citizen Political Volunteer", brought former attorney Guillermo Moreno García and social leader María Teresa Cabrera as candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency for the Movement for Independence, Unity and Change (MIUCA), obtaining 18,136 valid votes (0.44%). After the results of these elections, on January 21, 2009, the book "Alianza: Una Propuesta de País" authored by Guillermo Moreno was put into circulation, which led to some 22 presentations in the country and abroad, conforming Citizen Support Groups, a process that ended in an assembly in the city of
Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago de los Caballeros ("James, son of Zebedee, Saint James of the Knights"), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the capital of ...
on July 19, 2009, with the participation of the different citizen support groups that had been formed throughout the country. There it was decided to take the necessary steps to build an independent and alternative political option. On October 15, 2009, in a national address, Guillermo Moreno announced the decision to seek recognition of the new political organization that would be called the "Country Alliance". In this way, the Alianza País party was officially founded on February 20, 2011, when its Constituent Assembly
Juan Pablo Duarte Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez (January 26, 1813 – July 15, 1876) was a Dominican military leader, writer, activist, and nationalist politician who was the foremost of the Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic and bears the title of Father ...
held, in which its basic ideological definitions were approved, which include the guiding principles, objectives and strategic policies, working methods and their statutory norms. Similarly, it elected the members of its National Steering Committee and its president.


Electoral recognition

Country Alliance has gone through two recognition processes: The first process, at the time of its constitution as a party, began on June 6, 2010, when, after 9 months of intense work, the books containing the names and generals of 85,000 citizens who deposit the names and generals of the
Central Electoral Board The Central Electoral Board (Spanish: Junta Central Electoral, JCE) of the Dominican Republic is a special body of the government of the Dominican Republic responsible for ensuring a democratic and impartial electoral process, and also administe ...
are deposited. They supported the recognition of Country Alliance, organizing themselves by province and municipalities. In addition, the corresponding documentation is deposited for its constitution as a political organization. On February 4, 2011, by resolution No. 03-2011, the plenary of the Central Electoral Board recognized Country Alliance as a political party in accordance with the
Constitution of the Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic has gone through 39 constitutions, more than any other country, since its independence in 1844. This statistic is a somewhat deceiving indicator of political stability, however, because of the Dominican practice of promul ...
and the Electoral Law. The second process, after losing its jurisdiction before the Central Electoral Board after the 2012 elections, where it obtained 62,290 valid votes (1.37%), began on May 6, 2013, when the necessary documents for recognition were again deposited. This was accompanied by a recognition campaign called the "Campaign for the Million Friends" (CAMILA) in mid-August 2014, to structure a base of support for the 2016 general election. Despite meeting the requirements Formal, and the extensive CAMILA campaign, it was not until September 8, 2015, after more than a year and a half of pressure, that the Central Electoral Board again granted recognition to ALPAÍS.


Merger with Democratic Choice

As part of the negotiations for the 2020 elections, the party leadership entered into an alliance with the Democratic Choice (OD) party, founded by former deputy Minou Tavárez Mirabal and which had obtained recognition from the Central Electoral Board a few months ago, to carry joint candidacies at the presidential, congressional and municipal levels. For that purpose, both parties had planned to hold joint primary elections to elect their candidates on October 6, 2019. However, due to the requirements of the recently approved Law No. 33-18 on Parties, Groups and Electoral Movements, which requires newly created parties carry their own candidates in their first elections, OD was prevented from participating in the pact. On April 3, 2019, both parties accused the Central Electoral Board of boycotting its internal policy, and desisted from participating in the open primaries organized by said electoral body. In response to these limitations, and in view of the JCE's refusal to accept joint candidacies, the leaderships of both parties chose to merge their political organizations. The merger pact was signed on July 31, 2019, and accepted by the Central Electoral Board on August 21 under resolution No. 18-19. The official act of the merger was held on August 25, 2019, maintaining Alianza País the longest standing legal personality and having elected authorities.Campos, N. (2019)
''ALPAIS y Opción Democrática oficializan su fusión''
Diario Libre


Election results

Since its founding in 2011, Alianza País has participated in three
presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...
, two congressional elections and two municipal elections. At the presidential level, she has always participated with her own candidate, without alliances with other political parties recognized by the
Central Electoral Board The Central Electoral Board (Spanish: Junta Central Electoral, JCE) of the Dominican Republic is a special body of the government of the Dominican Republic responsible for ensuring a democratic and impartial electoral process, and also administe ...
, and she has not been able to obtain victory to date. At the congressional level, he obtained his first deputy, Fidelio Despradel, for dragging votes nationally in 2016; as well as its first deputy by direct vote, José Horacio Rodríguez, in 2020. He has made local alliances with the Alliance for Democracy, the Broad Front and the Modern Revolutionary Party for certain congressional and municipal candidates.


President


Congress


Municipal


Ideology

The ideological principles of the Country Alliance (also known as "guiding principles") revolve around
left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...
-leaning policies and the tendencies of
progressivism Progressivism is a Left-right political spectrum, left-leaning political philosophy and Reformism, reform political movement, movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has unive ...
, although in the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
political parties aren't usually identified under a hard and pure ideological line. These guiding principles are raised in 9 basic points, which are: * The Equality legal and social of all human beings, without discrimination of social, economic, race, sex, gender, nationality, age, cultural identity, health status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, political or philosophical ideas. * The democracy
participatory Citizen participation or public participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions—and ideally exert influence—regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participato ...
and pluralist as the best form of government and social organization known to man. * The political, economic and social
freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...
of human beings, especially civil and political freedoms, as a transversal axis for the construction of a new citizenship. *
Social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
, that is, equity and
solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...
, as the main engine of economic relations in society. * The
State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
under a
constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
regimen A regimen is a plan, or course of action such as a Diet (nutrition), diet, exercise or medical treatment. A salt#Health effects, low-salt diet is a regimen. A course of penicillin is a regimen, and there are many chemotherapy regimens in the trea ...
of rights, guarantees and freedoms in favor of human beings and their coexistence, and against personalism, caudillism, privileges, corruption and impunity * The
legality Legality, in respect of an act, agreement, or contract is the state of being consistent with the law or of being lawful or unlawful in a given jurisdiction, and the construct of power. ''Merriam-Webster'' defines legality as "1: attachment to or ...
and the
rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...
as fundamental rectors of coexistence between individuals, as well as the relationship between individuals and the State. * The attachment to the ethics of the rulers and powerful, denying the rupture between ethical principles and political practice. * Respect for the
sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...
and independence of all foreign powers. *
International relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
based on mutual respect, peace, cooperation, and the self-determination of peoples. As a consequence of these principles, the Alianza País speech is based heavily on criticism of
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
and
impunity Impunity is the ability to act with exemption from punishments, losses, or other negative consequences. In the international law of human rights, impunity is failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and, as such, itsel ...
(hence its motto "''For an honest government!''"), with respect to environment (especially against
open-pit mining Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially ...
and mega-mining), to the inclusion of marginalized groups (mainly women, the
elderly Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...
and
youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...
) and respect and tolerance towards Haitian Immigrants and LGBT collectives. In accordance with the objectives of the party, the ultimate goal of Alianza País is the establishment of the ''Duartian Republic'', a concept linked to compliance with the guiding principles mentioned above, as it would have established in its nation project the father of the Dominican homeland
Juan Pablo Duarte Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez (January 26, 1813 – July 15, 1876) was a Dominican military leader, writer, activist, and nationalist politician who was the foremost of the Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic and bears the title of Father ...
.


Structure and organization

Country Alliance has a mass political party structure, whose base of action may be party members, or supporters (also called "friends of Alianza País"). The "friend" has a voice, but no vote, in the decisions of the party. The Country Alliance structure is composed of three types of organizations. These are backed by the statutory rules of the party, and correspond very diffusely to the functions of the political power of citizens. These three types of organisms are: * Organisms of political leadership: are responsible for the organizational work, recruitment, promotion and construction of the party. They are the "executive" branch of the party. ** The territorial nucleus, composed of a number between 7 and 15 members. It is the minimum unit of the party in a neighborhood, urbanization, sector or place. ** The sectorial nucleus, composed of at least 7 members belonging to the same sector of society (sexual, labor, professional, generational ...). ** The zonal council, composed of at least three territorial and / or sectorial nuclei. It is the intermediary body between the territorial / sectoral nucleus and the municipal coordination team. ** A municipal coordination team for each municipality in the country; composed of between 7 and 25 members, who are the general coordinators and / or organizational secretaries of the zonal councils of said municipality. ** A provincial council for each province of the country and for the National District; integrated by the general coordinators and / or organizational secretaries of the municipal teams of said province (in the case of the National District, by). There is also a council for Dominican communities abroad. ** The national leadership, formed by the President, the Executive Secretary and the general coordinators of provincial and Distrito Nacional councils, in addition to the coordinators of their national commissions. It is the highest instance of the party at the national level when the National Assembly is not in session. In turn, each member of the national leadership is part of one of the following commissions: *** The national political commission, made up of the President, the Executive Secretary, and at least 7 members elected by the national leadership. This executive and permanent commission is in charge of representing and directing the party at the national level. *** The national work commissions, made up of a general coordinator and 15 of the members of the national leadership who do not belong to the political commission. These commissions are in charge of executing the party's internal policy regarding its organization, finances, communication, training and electoral matters. * Deliberative bodies: they are responsible for decision-making and the construction of party policies. They are the "legislative" branch of the party. ** The National Assembly, made up of members of the national leadership, and up to 10 representatives from each provincial council, the National District and Dominicans abroad. It meets every 4 years to choose the Party President, as well as to approve the internal rules and statutes of the party. It is the highest body of the party. It requires a minimum quorum of 33% of its members. ** The Municipal Assemblies, made up of members of the municipal team, and up to 5 members from each territorial / sector nucleus. They meet every year to choose the coordinator of the municipal team, as well as to outline the guidelines of the municipality's work plan. * Election bodies: they are responsible for choosing the party's candidates for the national elections. They are the "electoral" branch of the party. ** The National Convention elects the party's presidential candidate. ** The Provincial and Distrito Nacional Conventions are in charge of choosing the party candidates for senators and deputies for their respective provinces. ** The Municipal Conventions are in charge of electing the party candidates for mayors and councilors for their respective municipalities, and for municipal directors and members for their respective municipal districts.


References


External links


Official website
{{Dominican Republic political parties 2009 establishments in the Dominican Republic Political parties established in 2009 Political parties in the Dominican Republic São Paulo Forum Socialism in the Dominican Republic