The presidential nomination saga in the ruling Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) - centred on whether President Hipólito Mejía should run for reelection - may be approaching its culmination. On 12 August, Mejía agreed for the first time to meet the other aspirants to the PRD nomination (only party leader Hatuey Decamps, the strongest opponent of Mejía's reelection, stayed away). The encounter did not produce a choice between the two proposed options: a straightforward primary elections, favoured by the Mejía camp, or a prior `plebiscite' on the reelection issue, to be conducted by independent pollsters, which Decamps and six other aspirants advocate. [Worth noting: a survey just released, conducted on 5-11 July, shows 81.1% or respondents against reelection.]
They did, however, move a step closer: they agreed to submit the matter to arbitration by the PRD's presidium, a consultative body formed by the party's 26 vice-presidents - which is not usually asked to come up with binding decisions. It was left up to Mejía to find a date for the presidium meeting that could be accommodated within his agenda.
With elections nine months away, the PRD is the only major party which has not yet selected its candidate. The Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) has nominated former President Leonel Fernández (1996-2000), who has been consistently heading voting preferences in the opinion polls. The Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC) nominated Eduardo Estrella in a hotly disputed contest with former Vice-President Jacinto Peynado.
PRD futures in doubt
Few analysts believe that a consensus-based solution to the PRD crisis will give the ruling party much of a chance. At best, many say, the PRD might be able to avoid a damaging schism. After three years in office, Mejía now faces a situation not too different from the one which allowed him to be elected: popular protests against a rising cost of living, rising fuel prices and a renewed round of power blackouts, a currency that has lost half its value over the past year - plus a government decision to cover the impact of a US$2.2bn fraud-induced bank collapse, which forced the country to seek IMF assistance. Last week alone, at least four protesters were killed in clashes with police.
The Proyecto Presidencial Hipólito (PPH), the PRD faction promoting Mejía's reelection, still thinks victory is possible, via an agreement with the PRSC (the formula that allowed Fernández to win in 1996). This possibility was set back last week when the legislators faithful to Decamps foiled a PPH-led attempt to reelect Rafaela Alburquerque, of the PRSC, as president of the lower chamber - in an episode that descended into low farce when the PPH faction cut off the power to the chamber and shots were fired in the dark, in an unsuccessful attempt to disrupt the session.
Presidential reelection
Reelection, barred constitutionally to prevent a repeat of the multiple presidencies of Joaquín Balaguer, was reinstated by congress (ostensibly against Mejía's wishes) in June 2002. Mejía waited until April this year to announce that he would avail himself of the change.
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