Election Time

It’s election time all over the DR.  In a few weeks Dominican citizens will be voting for their municipal mayors, senators and representatives in the congress. 

All over the country, incumbent candidates are in a frenzy to repair their district’s roads and complete promised public works (though they’ve had almost four years to do it), so that these fabulous new improvements will be fresh in the voters’ minds on election day.

Candidates eager for votes are giving away paraphernalia as well as appliances, holding large parties, and blasting their merengue-style campaign songs on a loop on each street corner.

Politics is an interesting phenomenon here.  People will pick their candidate, usually one affiliated with their party (there are about 4 political parties here), and yell passionately at one another, proclaiming why their candidate is the best choice.  To make politicians seem more familiar, more from the pueblo, the people call politicians by their first names.  The President of the Republic is not President Fernandez.  He is Leonel.  The mayor of my town is not Mayor Ovalles.  She is Fatima.  Campaign posters are plastered everywhere and party affiliations are indicated by their respective colors: purple, white, blue, red.  Every political poster features the candidate in a frontal pose, beginning just below the shoulders and they either have a serious expression or the typical cheesy smile.  All the slogans are similar: Trabajo por ti.  Para el progreso.  Prestame tu vota.  Te doy la cara.  Para el publo. Pa’lante.  The lack of creativity in campaign slogans and posters really fascinates me.  So when I saw that one candidate had a sophisticated series of posters with stylistic black-and-white photos of the people and a decent graphic design (and surprisingly, no photos of the candidate), I was quite impressed.

While politics in the States may at times be a sensitive/private subject or of little interest to some people, politics here is an important pastime.  Everyone is involved, and everyone has something to say about it.  Most likely, the vast majority of the pueblo will be lined up to vote.

Certainly, Election Day will be quite an event, and I’m not looking forward to it.   I’m expecting it to be madness.  Already the excessive parades and fuerte music that shakes my house’s foundation are getting on my nerves.  There will be no peace until all this is over. 

¡Pa' lante!