There is much speculation that the largest opposition party, Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD), could break up, following the decision of Dr. José Francisco Peña Gómez to call for a new primary to elect the mayor of Santo Domingo, citing irregularities in the election that affected 10% of the votes. Peña Gómez explained that more votes were cast for municipal candidates than for congressional candidates, which was not technically acceptable. Preliminary vote count winner, engineer Julio Mariñez, did not accept the decision. His principal supporter, Santo Domingo’s mayor, Rafael Suberví Bonilla, said he would defend the right of Mariñez to run for mayor on the PRD ticket. Dr. José Francisco Peña Gómez said he would expell from the party any political leader who questions his authority. The PRD is broken up into three groups that support Suberví Bonilla, Hipólito Mejía and Hatuey de Camps. Dr. Peña Gómez has been the strongman of the party for the past two decades, but now is seriously ill with cancer of the pancreas. Nevertheless, he has been politically active trying to maintain his leadership for the well-being of the party. He has even said he would run in the year 2000 if his health continues to remain stable as is the case at present. Political analysts say that the internal crisis of the PRD, and the expected similar internal crisis within the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC), only benefits the aspirations of the government party, the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) and its well-known candidate for mayor, popular TV producer, Roberto Salcedo.
