Clientelism talk

[NewsWhore]

President Leonel Fernandez has complained about political parties being accused of promoting clientelism. As reported in El Caribe, he said that it is the people with their many needs that put the pressure on politicians by seeking handouts to solve their problems. Fernandez was speaking during a seminar organized by the government on Political Parties and Electoral Organizations. He said that he leaves his house and is approached by 40 or 50 people asking for money for medicine or to bury a relative. He explained that if he doesn't give a handout, these people are bothered, and accuse him of being insensitive and then visit another politician. "It is a phenomenon that is badly understood by political analysts, and only we who practice politics understand. He who lives it knows that clientelism is a bottom-up phenomenon," he said. He believes that the fact that many people see political parties as a way of social mobility is a weakness.

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