The conditions established by Dr Peña Gómez for a debate between the three major presidential candidates have not been accepted by his contenders, Leonel Fernández and Jacinto Peynado.
The presidential candidate for the PRD and the Acuerdo de Santo Domingo said that he would save himself for the end of the campaign, after specialists from the three principal parties revealed how they would solve the nation’s problems.
Leonel Fernández responded by describing Dr Peña Gómez as a “political fossil,” while Jacinto Peynado has said that the PRD leader either believes they are not at his (Peña Gómez’s) level or he is looking for a way out of the debate. Both Leonel Fernández and Jacinto Peynado have accepted the proposal for the debate made by the Catholic Church, and television stations have offered the necessary time free of charge.
Last week, answering a question from a journalist as to his opinion of Messrs Fernández and Peynado’s comments about him not accepting to take part in the debate, Dr Peña Gómez made a comment that became the talk of the town.
“Look here,” he told the journalist, “I have 35 years in politics and I move in the circles of the world political superstars, my adversaries need to wait another 15 or 20 years to sit with the people that I do, and discuss with the leaders that I gather with, to examine the problems of the world. I am at the level of the galaxies and my adversaries are mere satellites of their planets.”
Jacinto Peynado’s answer was later quoted in the press. He said, “I have never in my life been interested in being an astronaut; I have my feet on the ground.”