Omar Fernández, a senator for the National District and a member of the political leadership of Fuerza del Pueblo, warned that if his party and the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) cannot find common ground, the opposition will struggle to project the unity needed to lead the whole nation.
Speaking about the electoral outlook for 2028, Fernández said the difficulty in bringing the opposition together in the current political climate raised questions about whether the country's forces could ever unite as a nation. The Dominican Republic holds presidential and congressional elections every four years, and President Luis Abinader is due to complete his current term in 2028.
Fernández said that if uniting the opposition proved difficult, it gave the impression that uniting an entire nation would be difficult too, since the opposition itself did not know how to unite.
He said he would be willing to act as a bridge or unifying element between Fuerza del Pueblo and the PLD if the process required it, though he stressed that role could also be filled by any other politician.
Fernández said that, at this stage, each party was carrying out its own territorial and institutional strengthening independently, which he described as the correct approach for the moment. He added that future coordination between the two parties remained the way to present a government alternative capable of displacing the ruling Partido Revolucionario Moderno (PRM) from power.
Fuerza del Pueblo, the PLD and the PRM
Fuerza del Pueblo was founded by Leonel Fernández, Omar Fernández's father, after he left the PLD, the party he had led for decades and used to win the presidency three times, serving between 1996 and 2012. The PRM, led by Abinader, has governed the Dominican Republic since defeating the PLD in the 2020 elections.
Ideological stance
In an interview on the podcast Gurú Media, Fernández described himself as conservative and right-wing. He said his beliefs included defending the traditional family, promoting the reading of the Bible in schools, and rejecting what he called globalist agendas foreign to the national interest that sought to indoctrinate children.
On economic policy, Fernández said he favoured private property, individual liberties and a reduction of the state apparatus, and backed a transition toward a smaller, more efficient state.
Migration proposals
On migration, the senator proposed strict measures along the Dominican-Haitian border, including the construction of a detention centre for undocumented migrants to ensure deportation processes were carried out correctly. The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, and border security has long been a contentious issue in Dominican politics.
Fernández also denounced local mafias operating illegal migrant-trafficking networks, saying public officials, uniformed authorities and undocumented migrants themselves were involved.
He recalled that he had promoted a bill in Congress to punish complicit officials with permanent disqualification from public service. He said the penalty was ultimately set at 20 additional years to be served after completing a prison sentence, because the bill lacked enough votes in the legislative chambers to pass in its original form.
Family ties to Leonel Fernández
Asked whether he might clash with his father over potential presidential ambitions, Fernández ruled out any scenario of political disagreement between them. He said the two maintained a relationship of close trust and consulted each other regularly on political decisions.
On a personal note, Fernández said he studied law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra on his father's direct recommendation, even though he had originally wanted to study business administration at another university.
Defence of PRM appointment
Fernández also defended the appointment of Juan Garrigó Mejía as secretary general of the PRM, after critics accused the party of operating like a family monarchy, given Garrigó's family ties.
He described Garrigó as a young man with leadership qualities and talent, and said criticism based solely on his family background reflected an attitude of envy.
Garrigó Mejía was elected secretary general of the PRM two weeks before the interview, succeeding his mother, Carolina Mejía, in the post. Carolina Mejía, the daughter of former President Hipólito Mejía, has served as mayor of the National District, which includes Santo Domingo, since 2020.
