As of mid January (following the Three Kings Day long weekend), politics will dominate the headline news stories through the 16 May election and the expected 30 June second round to elect the next president of the Dominican Republic. Hipólito Mejía of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano continues to lead in popularity in the polls, followed by Danilo Medina of the ruling Partido de la Liberación Dominicana. The PRSC has yet to formalize the expected registration of former seven-time president Joaquín Balaguer as that party’s candidate. Ninety-three-year old Balaguer has conditioned his running to the condition of his health. The party has slated its convention for 15 January. Regardless of whether he runs or not, Balaguer commands enough votes to make the difference in who wins the presidential election in the likely case that a second round is necessary. Ultima Hora political analyst Hector Marte Pérez says that the questions that are remaining to be answered in the following weeks are: Will Balaguer accept to run for his party? Who will be his running mate? Will the party that has won the most elections (the PRSC) make a comeback and skip ahead to make it to the second round, passing the PLD? Will Balaguer be able to unify those that are pro-PRD and the pro-PLD within his party? Who will Danilo Medina of the PLD choose as running mate? Will Santo Domingo senator, Milagros Ortiz Bosch, remain to the end Hipólito Mejia’s running mate? Will Dominicans vote with one or two cédulas (voting and ID cards)? The Junta Central Electoral (JCE) is behind its deadline to issue the new cédulas to Dominican voters. In its last report, the JCE says that 2,791,164 citizens of 3,813 million persons, have the document in hand. The deadline is 31 January 2000. Which parties will ally for the second round?
