The ruling Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) is hopelessly split over the issue of President Hipólito Mejía's re-election. Given the personal attacks on him from members of his own party, the public backlash over a putative deal with the IMF and the fallout from the huge US$2.2bn fraud at the Banco Intercontinental (Baninter), it is a wonder Mejía even wants to run for a second term.
Nevertheless, run he will, if his dominant Proyecto Presidencial Hipólito (PPH) faction of the PRD has anything to say about it. The PPH has campaigned tirelessly to support his campaign (see RC-03-05).
De Camps lashes out. With less than two months to go until the party's primaries, ahead of next May's presidential elections, party president Hatuey de Camps has ratcheted up the pressure on Mejía to stand aside. He chose the official launch of his pre-candidacy to openly denounce Mejía's decision to run for re-election.
Addressing thousands of supporters at a rally in Santo Domingo, de Camps accused Mejía of fomenting intolerable friction in the PRD and of contravening party statutes, which outlaw re-election (it is worth noting, however, that re-election was made legal under the constitution in June 2002).
Mejía went on air to deny that his bid for re-election would shatter the unity of the PRD. However, in light of the evolving economic crisis (see following page), there is increasing unease within the PRD, which is reflected in the public at large.
The party's mediation committee is toying with a number of formulas to overcome the problem before a potentially divisive party primary, due to be held in early September. The options are: a plebiscite or referendum to choose the candidate; a survey among party members, or offering certain positions within the PRD and the next government to Mejía and his PPH associates.
Public rejection. Mejía's popularity has been buffeted by the Baninter fraud fiasco and the mooted IMF bailout. The majority of Dominicans are against him running for re-election, according to the latest Gallup poll carried out between 5 July and 7 July, in the midst of the unpopular talks with the Fund, which brought civil society groups and trade union members on to the steps outside congress.
A huge 81% of those surveyed said that Mejía should not pursue a second term in office. More significantly, 62% of PRD sympathisers shared this opinion, with only 33% offering to support him.
A sizeable 73% say that even if Mejía won the PRD ticket, his chances of being re-elected would be slim. Of the 1,200 Dominicans surveyed, 75% thought it would be 'detrimental' to the country if Mejía ran again.
Cometh the hour. The scene could hardly be better set for former President Leonel Fernández. While Mejía has been knifed by his own party and pilloried by the public, Fernández has quietly assumed pole position, annihilating his closest challenger, Jaime David Fernández Mirabal, in the opposition Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) party primaries.
Fernández took 87% of the 860,000 ballots placed by PLD members. He has tended to sit by and watch the PRD infighting but he could not resist a bit of gleeful sniping: 'This government does not have the vision, the sensibility or the criteria to think about the future of the Dominican Republic. There is simply no one in government who thinks [...] This is a government composed of the brainless and insensible,' he said.
Fernández is well ahead in voter preferences, having benefited from the internal chaos in the PRD and public disillusionment over the government's mismanagement of the economy.
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