The Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) and the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD) continue to court the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC) of former President Joaquín Balaguer. The party’s voters could make the difference in the May 16, 1998 congressional and municipal elections. Hoy newspaper reported that the party designated a commission to seek a repeat of the Frente Patriótico alliance, the PRSC-PLD agreement that boosted the PLD to power in 1996. The PLD delegate before the Junta Central Electoral, Dr. Reynaldo Pared Pérez, said that members of the commission are engineer Temístocles Montás, who is general manager of the state electricity utility; Minister of Interior and Police, Norge Botello; and Secretary of the Presidency, Danilo Medina. The private generators at present in operation are linked to high-ranking officers in the PRSC government, which would explain the inclusion of the administrator of the CDE in the commission. The delegate of the PRSC before the Junta Central Electoral, Dr. Juan Esteban Olivero Felix, warned the PLD that efforts for an alliance of the PRSC and the PLD are in vain, because the vast majority of party members do not want another agreement. On the other hand, Dr. José Francisco Peña Gómez, leader of the PRD, admitted that the government party may tempt Dr. Joaquín Balaguer, leader of the PRSC with an offer he can’t refuse. Political analysts have indicated that if the PRSC were to ally with the PRD, this would be another political coup in the career of former President Balaguer, who, despite being over 90 years old, is still considered one of the sagest Latin American politicians of all times.
