The president of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (PRD), Tony Raful told the press that the presidential candidate chosen by the ruling Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) is a "stillborn." He said that aware of that situation, Danilo Medina, the PLD presidential candidate, is seeking at whatever cost an alliance with the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (PRSC). Certain sectors within the PLD are promoting an alliance where Medina would run as vice president on a PRSC-PLD ticket. Former President Joaquín Balaguer, who is blind and will be 93 this September, would be the presidential candidate. Raful said, "The situation in 2000 is not the same as in 96, these are not the same historical and social conditions; the interests behind that alliance have changed." He was referring to the 1996 alliance between the PLD and the PRSC, when then President Balaguer supported Leonel Fernández for President. Political analyst of El Siglo newspaper, Orlando Gil commented that the speculation is part of the "fiction" that surrounds Dominican politics.
