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The 1996 presidential elections in the Dominican Republic
Notes on Recent Elections
103
5. Both districts and reserved positions allow candidates who won less votes to be placed in higher positions on the party list than other candidates who won more votes.
References Arian, A., (1996) The Israeli election for Prime Minister and the Knesset, 1996. Electoral Studies 15, 570-575. Bar, A. (1996) Primaries and Other Methods qf Candidate Selection (in Hebrew). Israel Democracy Institute, Jerusalem. Diskin, A. (1992) The Israeli general election of 1992. Electoral Studies, 11, 356-361. Gallagher, M. and Marsh, M. eds (1988) Candidate Selection in Comparative Perspective: The Secret Garden of Politics. Sage, London. Hazan, R. Y. (1996) Presidential parliamentarism: direct popular election of the Prime Minister, Israel's new electoral and political system. Electoral Studies 15, 21-37. Hazan, R. Y. (1997) Executive-legislative relations in an era of accelerated reform: reshaping government in Israel. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 22 (forthcoming).
The 1996 Presidential Elections in the Dominican Republic Ernesto Sagfis Department of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies, Lehman College, City Universiy of New York, New York, NY 10468-1589, USA
The 1996 presidential elections in the Dominican Republic were the result of the Pacto por la Democracia (Pact for Democracy), an agreement signed by the three main political parties in August of 1994, after a post-electoral crisis of over 2 months. The winner of the 16 May 1994 elections and incumbent president, Joaquin Balaguer of the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (Social Christian Reformist Party: PRSC), had been previously elected president of the Dominican Republic in 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986, and 1990. ~ This time he was challenged by Jos6 Francisco Pefia G6mez of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (Dominican Revolutionary Party: PRD), the candidate of an alliance with five other minor parties known as the Acuerdo de Santo Domingo (Santo Domingo Accord: ASD). 2 A second challenger was Juan Bosch of the Partido de la Liberacirn Dominicana (Dominican Liberation Party: PLD), a long-time rival of Balaguer since being defeated in the 1966 elections. 3 According to the opposition and most international observers, the 1994 elections were plagued with grave irregularities. Pefia Grmez accused Balaguer of massive fraud and claimed that as many as 200,000 PRD sympathizers had been disfranchised and were thus unable to vote. Finally, the very close election results (Balaguer officially won by a margin of only 22,000 votes) placed the Dominican Republic at the brink of an institutional crisis. The solution negotiated in the Pacto por la Democracia was to reduce Balaguer's term to
204
Notes on Recent Elections
2 years and call for new presidential elections in May 1996, in which Balaguer would not be allowed to participate, as presidential reelection was banned. All other elected officials would remain in office for their 4-year terms until congressional and municipal elections were held in 1998. These modifications were quickly approved by the National Assembly and included in the Dominican constitution. Moreover, the second-round electoral system was adopted, as well as 'closed' voting centres (in order to prevent people from voting twice). Voters now had to register at their assigned centres at a scheduled time before then proceeding to vote in two separate sessions: women in the morning and men in the afternoon. If none of the candidates obtained more than 50 per cent of the votes, then a second-round election would be scheduled 45 days later with only the two leading candidates appearing on the ballot. 4
The Campaign The 1996 electoral campaign actually began in 1995, when the PLD selected Leonel Fernandez, a young lawyer and Bosch's running mate in 1994, as its presidential candidate. 5 That was followed by the ASD alliance, that again carried Pefia G6mez on its ticket, but by now it had expanded into a 10-party alliance, the largest in Dominican history. Finally, with Balaguer prevented from running, the PRSC selected vice-president Jacinto Peynado as its presidential candidate. 6 The electoral campaign developed without major incidents, though it was marred by a nationalist, anti-Haitian discourse against Pefia G6mez for his presumed Haitian ancestry. 7 Fernfindez denounced on 2 May 1996 that Haitian citizens posing as Dominicans accounted for as much as 25 per cent of the official voting roster and asked the Junta Central Electoral (Central Electoral Board: JCE) for an investigation. Balaguer labelled voting 'a patriotic act' and asked the electorate to vote for the 'Dominican' candidate, a remark obviously directed against Pefia G6mez. Moreover, Balaguer did not seem willing to support Peynado, his own party's candidate. Balaguer was unenthusiastic about Peynado's campaign and rarely appeared with him or mentioned his candidacy in his speeches. As a result, only the ASD alliance and the PLD carried out a full-scale campaign effort. Finally, surveys conducted during the campaign consistently showed Pefia G6mez and the ASD alliance with a comfortable lead of _+510 per cent.
The First Round Voting on 16 May 1996 took place without major incidents. The system of 'closed' voting centres, which had been criticized as unpractical and obsolete, functioned rather smoothly. Votes were quickly counted and final results were announced the next day: Pefia G6mez of the ASD alliance obtained first place with 45.93 per cent of the votes, while Fernfindez of the PLD came in second with 38.94 per cent. Peynado of the PRSC finished a distant third with 14.99 per cent (Table 1). For the first time in contemporary Dominican history, electoral results were announced in a matter of hours, not weeks. Since no candidate obtained the necessary 50 per cent of the votes to win, a second-round election between Pefia G6mez and Fernandez was scheduled for 30 June 1996. The abstention rate was normal for Dominican standards, only 21.4 per cent of registered voters abstained. Finally, in a widely-publicized ironic gesture, Balaguer did not show up to vote on election day, an action which confirmed his distaste for Peynado's candidacy. As is usual in second-round electoral systems, the two winning candidates sought alliances
105
Notes on Recent Elections
Table 1. Voting results 1996 presidential elections (first round) Candidate (party)
Votes
Leonel Fernfindez (PLD) Jose F. Pefia G6mez (PRD/ASD alliance) Jacinto Peynado (PRSC)
1,129,874 1,332,760 435,055
% 38.94 45.93 14.99
Source: Junta Central Electoral.
with the losing parties. In the Dominican case, the 435,000 votes of the PRSC represented a coveted prize--considering that the margin of victory in the first election had only been about 200,000 votes. The PLD, which had been making contacts with Balaguer during the campaign, sought an alliance with its old foe in order to defeat their common enemy, Pefia G6mez. The ASD alliance, on its part, relied on its original margin of victory, but also sought to attract the lower-class stratum of the PRSC. On 2 June 1996, the Dominican people witnessed an unprecedented event. Leonel Fernfindez, Juan Bosch, and Joaqufn Balaguer formalized in an impressive rally the formation of the Frente Nacional Patri6tico (National Patriotic Front: FNP), an ad hoc political alliance created to stop Pefia G6mez. With this shrewd political move, Balaguer practically guaranteed the defeat of Pefia G6mez, forced his former rivals of the PLD to publicly recognize and honour him, and in the process was able to 'clean' his historical image by projecting himself as the 'father' of Dominican democracy. In his speech on that occasion, Balaguer remarked that he was unselfishly entering into the FNP alliance because he wanted to remain 'a Dominican in Dominican soil'. Peynado did not attend the event. The Second Round
The second-round electoral campaign was characterized by a short-lived wave of arrests of ASD sympathizers and the continued use of a nationalist, anti-Haitian discourse against Pefia G6mez. Election day was again uneventful and definitive results were announced less than 12 hours after polls closed. Leonel Fernfindez, the candidate of the FNP alliance, convincingly won with 51.25 per cent of the votes (a victory margin of over 70,000 votes--see Table 2). Abstention was again normal, only 23.2 per cent of registered voters failed to cast their ballots. Foreign and domestic observers reported that both electoral contests had been clean and free of major irregularities. Former US President Jimmy Carter and his observer team labelled the elections as 'exemplary' and commended the JCE for its pivotal role in organizing the mostorderly elections in Dominican history. Pefia G6mez, on his part, quickly recognized his
Table 2. Voting results 1996 presidential elections (second round) Candidate (party) Leonel Fernfindez (PLD/FNP alliance) Jos6 F. Pefia G6mez (PRD/ASD alliance) Source: Junta Central Electoral.
Votes
%
1,466,382 1,394,641
51.25 48.75
106
N o t e s on Recent Elections
opponent's victory, but days later bitterly remarked that "the Dominican Republic is not yet ready for a black president". Conclusion The 1996 elections close a 30-year cycle in Dominican politics that began with Balaguer's victory in the 1966 elections. Not only was Balaguer prevented from seeking reelection, but his party also finished a distant third. During the last three decades, Balaguer was president of the Dominican Republic for 22 years. Now 90 years old, he is at the end of his political career. His eternal rival, Juan Bosch, has also retired from politics. Pefia G6mez, for his part, will likely have to struggle with internal opposition in the PRD if he decides to seek the presidential nomination for a fourth time in the year 2000. He will also have to maintain the cohesion of the ASD alliance for 4 more years--certainly a difficult task. The big winner seems to be Leonel Fernfindez. Little known 2 years ago, he--at 43--now represents a new generation of young Dominican politicians. With a fresh outlook and high hopes, he promises to inaugurate a new era in Dominican politics. Whether he succeeds or not, will depend on two elements. First, his management of the Dominican economy, which is burdened by inefficient and unprofitable state industries, a tradition of institutionalized corruption, and severe infrastructural problems, such as the energy crisis. And second, his political debt to Balaguer, a calculating politician who is well-known for exacting a heavy price for his support. The 1996 presidential elections in the Dominican Republic also restored public confidence in the JCE. For a number of reasons--mostly fraud and grave irregularities--all electoral contests since 1966 had been traumatic and usually developed into a weeks-long post-electoral crisis. In 1996, and for the first time in contemporary Dominican history, the JCE had organized an election that Dominicans could be proud of. This was as much a result of the careful selection of the members of the JCE, as of the fact that the incumbent (Balaguer) was not a candidate nor seemed willing to endorse his party's candidate (Peynado)--a fact that gave the JCE the freedom of action that it had lacked in the past. If maintained, this emerging trend could help institutionalize electoral politics in the Dominican Republic. Finally, the 1996 presidential elections mark a breaking point in the Dominican political system. First, they signalled the definitive consolidation of a tripartite system in the Dominican Republic, in which majority support gravitates between the PLD, the PRD, and the PRSC. Second, they implied a generational relay, in which a much younger generation 8 replaced a gerontocracy of sorts? Third, they inaugurated important structural changes in the Dominican electoral system, like secondround elections, separate presidential and congressional/municipal elections, j° 'closed' voting centres, and the ban on presidential reelection. Finally, the 1996 elections closed a 30-year electoral cycle in which Balaguer--in or out of power--was a key power player in the Dominican political system. With Balaguer now out of the political scene, new political spaces will open up in the Dominican Republic, even within his own party, the PRSC. Potential political leaders that for years vegetated under Balaguer's shadow will now emerge to try to fill in the power vacuum created by his departure from power. Notes I. Balaguer, born in 1906, was 88 years old for the 1994 elections. He held several government positions under the dictatorship of Rafael L. Trujillo (1930-61), including the presidency. He has been president of the Dominican Republic for 22 of the 30 years between 1966 and 1996.
Notes on Recent Elections
1(}7
2. As a child, Pefia G6mez was abandoned by his parents who fled to Haiti when Trujillo ordered the massacre of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic in 1937. He was raised by an adoptive family and rose to political prominence from very humble origins. 3. Bosch, a writer and intellectual, became an anti-Trujillo exile in the 1930s. He was elected president in 1962, only to be overthrown by the Dominican military in September of 1963. 4. For detailed analyses of the 1994 elections see Ferguson (1994) and Hartlyn (1994). 5. Bosch officially retired from politics shortly after the PLD's defeat in the 1994 elections. 6. Peynado is a wealthy businessman and former senator for the National District (Santo Domingo). 7. Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the small Caribbean island of Hispaniola, and their relationship has traditionally been a tense one. One of the most intense issues of contention has been the large-scale illegal migration of Haitians into the Dominican Republic. For a historical examination of Haitian-Dominican relations and the use of an anti-Haitian discourse in the Dominican Republic, see Sagfis (1993). 8. While Balaguer is 90 years old, Leonel Fernfindez is only 43, thus becoming the youngest Dominican president in history. Juan Bosch, the PLD's presidential candidate in 1994, is now 87 years old. 9. See Jimrnez Polanco (1996) for more information on the Balaguer administration. 10. Even though separate ballots were used in previous elections for presidential, congressional and municipal candidates, most of the campaign revolved around the presidential candidate. Congressional and municipal candidates were usually elected as a result of votes for the party of the presidential candidate--a trend popularly known as arrastre (hauling). The new constitutional changes will force congressional and municipal candidates to do their own campaigning and to be more responsive towards their electorate.
References Ferguson, J. (1994) Presidential elections: loser take all. NACLA Report on the Americas 28, 10-14. Hartlyn, J. (1994) Crisis-ridden elections (again) in the Dominican Republic: neopatrimonialism, presidentialism, and weak electoral oversight. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World ,4]fairs 36, 91-144. Jim~nez Polanco, J. (1996) Las elecciones dominicanas de 1994: el t~ltimo clivaje de una cuasipoliarqufa gerontocrfitica y delegativa. America Latina Hoy 2(13), 17-26. Sagfis, E. (1993) Antihaitianismo in the Dominican Republic. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida.
The 1996 Ecuadorian Elections Monica Barczak
University o f California, Davis, CA 95616, U.S.A.
The 1996 Ecuadorian Elections The 19 May and 7 July 1996 elections in Ecuador reflect several important political trends taking shape in that Andean country. First, the elections represent the fifth time voters have elected their president and a full Congress since the military relinquished political power to civilian leaders in 1979. Second, the May election saw the continued growth of both the rightist
103
5. Both districts and reserved positions allow candidates who won less votes to be placed in higher positions on the party list than other candidates who won more votes.
References Arian, A., (1996) The Israeli election for Prime Minister and the Knesset, 1996. Electoral Studies 15, 570-575. Bar, A. (1996) Primaries and Other Methods qf Candidate Selection (in Hebrew). Israel Democracy Institute, Jerusalem. Diskin, A. (1992) The Israeli general election of 1992. Electoral Studies, 11, 356-361. Gallagher, M. and Marsh, M. eds (1988) Candidate Selection in Comparative Perspective: The Secret Garden of Politics. Sage, London. Hazan, R. Y. (1996) Presidential parliamentarism: direct popular election of the Prime Minister, Israel's new electoral and political system. Electoral Studies 15, 21-37. Hazan, R. Y. (1997) Executive-legislative relations in an era of accelerated reform: reshaping government in Israel. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 22 (forthcoming).
The 1996 Presidential Elections in the Dominican Republic Ernesto Sagfis Department of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies, Lehman College, City Universiy of New York, New York, NY 10468-1589, USA
The 1996 presidential elections in the Dominican Republic were the result of the Pacto por la Democracia (Pact for Democracy), an agreement signed by the three main political parties in August of 1994, after a post-electoral crisis of over 2 months. The winner of the 16 May 1994 elections and incumbent president, Joaquin Balaguer of the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (Social Christian Reformist Party: PRSC), had been previously elected president of the Dominican Republic in 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986, and 1990. ~ This time he was challenged by Jos6 Francisco Pefia G6mez of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (Dominican Revolutionary Party: PRD), the candidate of an alliance with five other minor parties known as the Acuerdo de Santo Domingo (Santo Domingo Accord: ASD). 2 A second challenger was Juan Bosch of the Partido de la Liberacirn Dominicana (Dominican Liberation Party: PLD), a long-time rival of Balaguer since being defeated in the 1966 elections. 3 According to the opposition and most international observers, the 1994 elections were plagued with grave irregularities. Pefia Grmez accused Balaguer of massive fraud and claimed that as many as 200,000 PRD sympathizers had been disfranchised and were thus unable to vote. Finally, the very close election results (Balaguer officially won by a margin of only 22,000 votes) placed the Dominican Republic at the brink of an institutional crisis. The solution negotiated in the Pacto por la Democracia was to reduce Balaguer's term to
204
Notes on Recent Elections
2 years and call for new presidential elections in May 1996, in which Balaguer would not be allowed to participate, as presidential reelection was banned. All other elected officials would remain in office for their 4-year terms until congressional and municipal elections were held in 1998. These modifications were quickly approved by the National Assembly and included in the Dominican constitution. Moreover, the second-round electoral system was adopted, as well as 'closed' voting centres (in order to prevent people from voting twice). Voters now had to register at their assigned centres at a scheduled time before then proceeding to vote in two separate sessions: women in the morning and men in the afternoon. If none of the candidates obtained more than 50 per cent of the votes, then a second-round election would be scheduled 45 days later with only the two leading candidates appearing on the ballot. 4
The Campaign The 1996 electoral campaign actually began in 1995, when the PLD selected Leonel Fernandez, a young lawyer and Bosch's running mate in 1994, as its presidential candidate. 5 That was followed by the ASD alliance, that again carried Pefia G6mez on its ticket, but by now it had expanded into a 10-party alliance, the largest in Dominican history. Finally, with Balaguer prevented from running, the PRSC selected vice-president Jacinto Peynado as its presidential candidate. 6 The electoral campaign developed without major incidents, though it was marred by a nationalist, anti-Haitian discourse against Pefia G6mez for his presumed Haitian ancestry. 7 Fernfindez denounced on 2 May 1996 that Haitian citizens posing as Dominicans accounted for as much as 25 per cent of the official voting roster and asked the Junta Central Electoral (Central Electoral Board: JCE) for an investigation. Balaguer labelled voting 'a patriotic act' and asked the electorate to vote for the 'Dominican' candidate, a remark obviously directed against Pefia G6mez. Moreover, Balaguer did not seem willing to support Peynado, his own party's candidate. Balaguer was unenthusiastic about Peynado's campaign and rarely appeared with him or mentioned his candidacy in his speeches. As a result, only the ASD alliance and the PLD carried out a full-scale campaign effort. Finally, surveys conducted during the campaign consistently showed Pefia G6mez and the ASD alliance with a comfortable lead of _+510 per cent.
The First Round Voting on 16 May 1996 took place without major incidents. The system of 'closed' voting centres, which had been criticized as unpractical and obsolete, functioned rather smoothly. Votes were quickly counted and final results were announced the next day: Pefia G6mez of the ASD alliance obtained first place with 45.93 per cent of the votes, while Fernfindez of the PLD came in second with 38.94 per cent. Peynado of the PRSC finished a distant third with 14.99 per cent (Table 1). For the first time in contemporary Dominican history, electoral results were announced in a matter of hours, not weeks. Since no candidate obtained the necessary 50 per cent of the votes to win, a second-round election between Pefia G6mez and Fernandez was scheduled for 30 June 1996. The abstention rate was normal for Dominican standards, only 21.4 per cent of registered voters abstained. Finally, in a widely-publicized ironic gesture, Balaguer did not show up to vote on election day, an action which confirmed his distaste for Peynado's candidacy. As is usual in second-round electoral systems, the two winning candidates sought alliances
105
Notes on Recent Elections
Table 1. Voting results 1996 presidential elections (first round) Candidate (party)
Votes
Leonel Fernfindez (PLD) Jose F. Pefia G6mez (PRD/ASD alliance) Jacinto Peynado (PRSC)
1,129,874 1,332,760 435,055
% 38.94 45.93 14.99
Source: Junta Central Electoral.
with the losing parties. In the Dominican case, the 435,000 votes of the PRSC represented a coveted prize--considering that the margin of victory in the first election had only been about 200,000 votes. The PLD, which had been making contacts with Balaguer during the campaign, sought an alliance with its old foe in order to defeat their common enemy, Pefia G6mez. The ASD alliance, on its part, relied on its original margin of victory, but also sought to attract the lower-class stratum of the PRSC. On 2 June 1996, the Dominican people witnessed an unprecedented event. Leonel Fernfindez, Juan Bosch, and Joaqufn Balaguer formalized in an impressive rally the formation of the Frente Nacional Patri6tico (National Patriotic Front: FNP), an ad hoc political alliance created to stop Pefia G6mez. With this shrewd political move, Balaguer practically guaranteed the defeat of Pefia G6mez, forced his former rivals of the PLD to publicly recognize and honour him, and in the process was able to 'clean' his historical image by projecting himself as the 'father' of Dominican democracy. In his speech on that occasion, Balaguer remarked that he was unselfishly entering into the FNP alliance because he wanted to remain 'a Dominican in Dominican soil'. Peynado did not attend the event. The Second Round
The second-round electoral campaign was characterized by a short-lived wave of arrests of ASD sympathizers and the continued use of a nationalist, anti-Haitian discourse against Pefia G6mez. Election day was again uneventful and definitive results were announced less than 12 hours after polls closed. Leonel Fernfindez, the candidate of the FNP alliance, convincingly won with 51.25 per cent of the votes (a victory margin of over 70,000 votes--see Table 2). Abstention was again normal, only 23.2 per cent of registered voters failed to cast their ballots. Foreign and domestic observers reported that both electoral contests had been clean and free of major irregularities. Former US President Jimmy Carter and his observer team labelled the elections as 'exemplary' and commended the JCE for its pivotal role in organizing the mostorderly elections in Dominican history. Pefia G6mez, on his part, quickly recognized his
Table 2. Voting results 1996 presidential elections (second round) Candidate (party) Leonel Fernfindez (PLD/FNP alliance) Jos6 F. Pefia G6mez (PRD/ASD alliance) Source: Junta Central Electoral.
Votes
%
1,466,382 1,394,641
51.25 48.75
106
N o t e s on Recent Elections
opponent's victory, but days later bitterly remarked that "the Dominican Republic is not yet ready for a black president". Conclusion The 1996 elections close a 30-year cycle in Dominican politics that began with Balaguer's victory in the 1966 elections. Not only was Balaguer prevented from seeking reelection, but his party also finished a distant third. During the last three decades, Balaguer was president of the Dominican Republic for 22 years. Now 90 years old, he is at the end of his political career. His eternal rival, Juan Bosch, has also retired from politics. Pefia G6mez, for his part, will likely have to struggle with internal opposition in the PRD if he decides to seek the presidential nomination for a fourth time in the year 2000. He will also have to maintain the cohesion of the ASD alliance for 4 more years--certainly a difficult task. The big winner seems to be Leonel Fernfindez. Little known 2 years ago, he--at 43--now represents a new generation of young Dominican politicians. With a fresh outlook and high hopes, he promises to inaugurate a new era in Dominican politics. Whether he succeeds or not, will depend on two elements. First, his management of the Dominican economy, which is burdened by inefficient and unprofitable state industries, a tradition of institutionalized corruption, and severe infrastructural problems, such as the energy crisis. And second, his political debt to Balaguer, a calculating politician who is well-known for exacting a heavy price for his support. The 1996 presidential elections in the Dominican Republic also restored public confidence in the JCE. For a number of reasons--mostly fraud and grave irregularities--all electoral contests since 1966 had been traumatic and usually developed into a weeks-long post-electoral crisis. In 1996, and for the first time in contemporary Dominican history, the JCE had organized an election that Dominicans could be proud of. This was as much a result of the careful selection of the members of the JCE, as of the fact that the incumbent (Balaguer) was not a candidate nor seemed willing to endorse his party's candidate (Peynado)--a fact that gave the JCE the freedom of action that it had lacked in the past. If maintained, this emerging trend could help institutionalize electoral politics in the Dominican Republic. Finally, the 1996 presidential elections mark a breaking point in the Dominican political system. First, they signalled the definitive consolidation of a tripartite system in the Dominican Republic, in which majority support gravitates between the PLD, the PRD, and the PRSC. Second, they implied a generational relay, in which a much younger generation 8 replaced a gerontocracy of sorts? Third, they inaugurated important structural changes in the Dominican electoral system, like secondround elections, separate presidential and congressional/municipal elections, j° 'closed' voting centres, and the ban on presidential reelection. Finally, the 1996 elections closed a 30-year electoral cycle in which Balaguer--in or out of power--was a key power player in the Dominican political system. With Balaguer now out of the political scene, new political spaces will open up in the Dominican Republic, even within his own party, the PRSC. Potential political leaders that for years vegetated under Balaguer's shadow will now emerge to try to fill in the power vacuum created by his departure from power. Notes I. Balaguer, born in 1906, was 88 years old for the 1994 elections. He held several government positions under the dictatorship of Rafael L. Trujillo (1930-61), including the presidency. He has been president of the Dominican Republic for 22 of the 30 years between 1966 and 1996.
Notes on Recent Elections
1(}7
2. As a child, Pefia G6mez was abandoned by his parents who fled to Haiti when Trujillo ordered the massacre of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic in 1937. He was raised by an adoptive family and rose to political prominence from very humble origins. 3. Bosch, a writer and intellectual, became an anti-Trujillo exile in the 1930s. He was elected president in 1962, only to be overthrown by the Dominican military in September of 1963. 4. For detailed analyses of the 1994 elections see Ferguson (1994) and Hartlyn (1994). 5. Bosch officially retired from politics shortly after the PLD's defeat in the 1994 elections. 6. Peynado is a wealthy businessman and former senator for the National District (Santo Domingo). 7. Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the small Caribbean island of Hispaniola, and their relationship has traditionally been a tense one. One of the most intense issues of contention has been the large-scale illegal migration of Haitians into the Dominican Republic. For a historical examination of Haitian-Dominican relations and the use of an anti-Haitian discourse in the Dominican Republic, see Sagfis (1993). 8. While Balaguer is 90 years old, Leonel Fernfindez is only 43, thus becoming the youngest Dominican president in history. Juan Bosch, the PLD's presidential candidate in 1994, is now 87 years old. 9. See Jimrnez Polanco (1996) for more information on the Balaguer administration. 10. Even though separate ballots were used in previous elections for presidential, congressional and municipal candidates, most of the campaign revolved around the presidential candidate. Congressional and municipal candidates were usually elected as a result of votes for the party of the presidential candidate--a trend popularly known as arrastre (hauling). The new constitutional changes will force congressional and municipal candidates to do their own campaigning and to be more responsive towards their electorate.
References Ferguson, J. (1994) Presidential elections: loser take all. NACLA Report on the Americas 28, 10-14. Hartlyn, J. (1994) Crisis-ridden elections (again) in the Dominican Republic: neopatrimonialism, presidentialism, and weak electoral oversight. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World ,4]fairs 36, 91-144. Jim~nez Polanco, J. (1996) Las elecciones dominicanas de 1994: el t~ltimo clivaje de una cuasipoliarqufa gerontocrfitica y delegativa. America Latina Hoy 2(13), 17-26. Sagfis, E. (1993) Antihaitianismo in the Dominican Republic. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida.
The 1996 Ecuadorian Elections Monica Barczak
University o f California, Davis, CA 95616, U.S.A.
The 1996 Ecuadorian Elections The 19 May and 7 July 1996 elections in Ecuador reflect several important political trends taking shape in that Andean country. First, the elections represent the fifth time voters have elected their president and a full Congress since the military relinquished political power to civilian leaders in 1979. Second, the May election saw the continued growth of both the rightist