PRSC backs reduction of funds to parties, but calls for law reform

Santo Domingo.– The Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) expressed its support for the proposal of the Government to reduce by 50% the state funding allocated to political parties for the year 2026, although it warned that the measure requires legal modifications to be implemented. The president of the organization, Federico Antún Batlle (Quique), pointed out that the reduction of resources allocated to the parties must be carried out in accordance with the law and through a reform of Law 33-18 on Parties, Groups and Political Movements and Law 20-23 of the Electoral Regime. "We support the reduction of funds allocated to political organizations amid the current international crisis, but this decision must be based on strict compliance with the law," he stated.

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The reformist leader explained that, without those modifications, the Government could incur violations of the current legal framework. Antún Batlle also maintained that austerity measures should go beyond "cosmetic" actions and proposed reducing spending on state advertising to 10% of what is currently invested. He also proposed eliminating privileges related to fuel subsidies granted to companies, reinforcing the prosecution against tax evasion, and toughening penalties for the theft of electricity, problems that, according to him, represent millions in losses for the State. He also advocated for reviewing the tax exemptions received by different economic sectors, considering that many of them are no longer justified. "Many of those exemptions may have made sense in the past, but today they have become unjustified privileges," he said.

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The president of the PRSC recalled that public funding for political parties was promoted in the nineties by José Francisco Peña Gómez with the aim of balancing electoral competition and avoiding the use of illicit resources in campaigns. Finally, he reiterated the PRSC's support for the savings measures announced by the Government, although he asked to deepen the actions to guarantee a real impact on public finances. "The country is facing difficult times and it is necessary to adopt firm decisions to face the economic challenges that are approaching," he concluded.