Key party members, including Jacinto Peynado, Carlos Morales Troncoso and Federico Antún Batlle did not accompany former President Joaquín Balaguer, the undisputed leader of the PRSC at the presentation of party candidates Rafael Corporán de los Santos (running for mayor of Santo Domingo) and Alexis Joaquín Castillo (candidate to senator of Santo Domingo) held on Sunday 22 March at the Partido Reformista Av. Tiradentes headquarters. Only shortly before the event took place, a large crowd of party members protested at the Casa de Teatro’s auditorium that Balaguer had overridden the results of the primaries organized by the party. Several disgusted party leaders said they would not support another party, but neither would they vote for the candidates chosen by Balaguer. The long-time politician, nonagenarian Balaguer defended his choice saying that the primaries were the most democratic way of choosing the candidates. He said that the other option was to do as the statutes of the party provide: that the bases choose 40% and the leadership of the party the remaining 60%. Miguel Sanz Jiminián, who won the primary to elect the mayor of Santo Domingo, was chosen as first selection for deputy of the party.
