Can the Dominican Republic’s New President Deliver on High Hopes for Change?

Can the Dominican Republic’s New President Deliver on High Hopes for Change?
Luis Abinader, the president-elect of the Dominican Republic, is surrounded by journalists at a voting center on Election Day, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, July 5, 2020 (AP photo by Tatiana Fernandez).

In a general election earlier this month, voters in the Dominican Republic dealt a stinging defeat to the ruling Dominican Liberation Party, or PLD, which has dominated politics in the country since 2004. Luis Abinader, an economist and businessman who has never held political office, was elected president, and his Modern Revolutionary Party, or PRM, emerged as the largest party in Congress.

The vote was initially scheduled to be held in May, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken a devastating toll on the Dominican Republic. The country has reported over 57,000 cases of COVID-19, including 1,000 deaths, more than any other country in the Caribbean.

In an email interview with WPR, Leiv Marsteintredet, a political scientist and expert on Latin America at the University of Bergen in Norway, analyzes the results of the election and the challenges facing the incoming Abinader administration.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review