The President of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), Enmanuel Esquea Guerrero, indicated yesterday that the PRD will send its formal response to President Leonel Fern?ndez’s Wednesday letter rejecting PRD’s preconditions for entering into a political dialogue with the government. As with PRD’s Tuesday letter to Fern?ndez responding to the President’s invitation to enter into a dialogue, this new PRD letter will be written by a special committee composed of Senate President Ram?n Alburquerque, Senator Milton Ray Guevara and Deputy Ivelisse Prats de P?rez. A trusted source that attended the Thursday strategy meeting of the PRD’s executive body, the Presidium, told the news daily Hoy that PRD will insist in its new letter that no dialogue will commence as long as Senator Amable Aristy Castro [Reformist-Social Christian Party (PRSC) – Altagracia] remains in the Dominican Municipal League (LMD). The PRD will insist on its original demand that a commission of eminent persons ("notables") be appointed to run the LMD instead of Aristy Castro until the courts decide whether Aristy Castro or PRD’s Julio Mar??ez Rosario is the real LMD Secretary-General (SG). [Two parallel municipal assemblies were held on January 26th which elected Aristy Castro and Mar??ez Rosario as SG, both after making dubious rule changes.] President Fern?ndez had said that it was not up to the President to make such a concession, since the LMD technically is not under his jurisdiction, and in any case, making such a concession would damage confidence in the courts to decide such disputes.PRD reportedly will also insist that the President’s political party, the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), be represented in the dialogue in addition to the President. PRD officials evidently fear that any agreement made by the President could later be disavowed by his party.
