Incumbent president of Dominican Republic leads presidential race ahead of vote

The president of the Dominican Republic, Danilo Medina, heads a list of eight candidates in the lead up to Sunday's presidential elections.

Recent polls show that of the eight presidential hopefuls, only Medina, of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), and the candidate of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), Luis Abinader, appear to have enough momentum to make it to a runoff, if not win an absolute majority in the first round.

Compared to past presidential elections, however, this year's race appears to generate little interest among voters, despite abundant electoral campaigning.

Medina, an economist by training, is running on his record, pledging to expand on his accomplishments over the past four years.

Calling himself "the president of fulfilled promises," Medina has been touting such measures as earmarking 4 percent of the GDP for education, and the more than 400,000 jobs created during his term.

Medina's programs to help economically depressed areas have met with some success, and even gained recognition from international organizations.

Abinader, who is trailing in second place, is the son of a well-to-do family, and his father Jose Rafael Abinader made various unsuccessful runs for the presidency.

If elected, Abinader, who also studied economics, has said he would focus on curbing government spending, foster small and medium-size companies, and eradicate poverty through job creation.

He has criticized the government for spending some 8.322 billion pesos (181.6 million U.S. dollars) on publicity over the past three years, saying it is "more than what is needed to eradicate extreme poverty in our country."

But with the economy humming along -- GDP growth was at 7 percent in 2015 -- it's unlikely Dominicans are looking for a change at the top.

Still Medina, who barely won a majority of the votes in 2012, with just over the 51 percent required, may have to face Abinader in a runoff. Endit