Hippo's plan...

suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
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We all want Hippo and the PRD for that matter out of office, but the way I see it, it's going to be almost impossible to get them out.
Basically their strategy is to prevent Leonel from getting 51% of the vote in the first round, at all cost. To achieve this they will use all resources at their disposal (Vote buying, Money spent amongst the party members, intimidation to those who currently work for the government, bribery, etc).
They will try to pass the Ley De Lemas, because even though this means Hippo will have some competition within the party, he also knows no other candidate can get more votes than him, thus he will be getting everybody else's vote to count towards his cause.
They will proclaim him the official candidate for the PRD, this weekend and at the same time remove his "enemies" - Hatuey and Fello - from their posts.
The plans are in place to remove supreme court justices from their posts and substitute them with PPH people.
They also control the Electoral board, both houses of the congress and more importantly the armed forces.
If the Ley De Lemas passes then it's smooth sailing for Hippo after that. If they cannot organize the elections for lack of time, then he gets to stay in power longer until they can...He has nothing to lose...
Once they prevent Leonel from getting 51% of the vote on the first round, then it's just a matter of negotiating with Estrella and the PRSC for votes. It's almost not even a secret that the PPH helped Estrella get his party nomination, for this same purpose...
The only question is what will Hatuey do once he gets kicked out of the party? Will he negotiate with Hippo to allow him to remain in the party for his endorsement (very likely), will he ask his people to vote suport someone from another party (unlikely), will he be a candidate unde the Ley De Lemas, thus implicitly supporting Hippo?
One thing you have to admit though, there's never a boring moment in Dominican politics...
 

samiam

Bronze
Mar 5, 2003
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I think it very unlikely the PRSC will support the PPH in a second round of elections. It would be like commiting haraKiri (And perhaps not even since haraKiri implies a certain code of honor).

As for the question with Hatuey, I dont think he'll line up with Hipoli-toe and his cronies. He has been their most extreme opposer, Leonel has been a pussycat next to Hatuey in this sence. He'll probably negotiate a way to stay in the party via blackmail or something. He has the goods on hippo's sons and other very close friends.

One thing for sure is that if Leonel does not pass in the first round, he can forget about becoming president. Ever!