2001News

President of PRD opposes closed candidate lists

Governing party PRD president Hatuey de Camps agrees with opposition party colleagues from the PRSC and PLD that the candidate lists for the parties in the municipal and congressional lists should be left open, as reported in Hoy newspaper. In the past the political parties have set the order of the lists, with those at the top being "elected" depending on the number of votes the party receives in total. The electoral law seeks to give voters the freedom to choose anyone on the list, regardless of the order in which the name is listed. The JCE has proposed to restore the old order where the parties decide, not the voters. The president of the PRD says that all parties would gain from the open lists. He said that it would relieve the parties of internal pressure from politicians that want to be chosen to make the first places of the lists. De Camps spoke on the El Dia television program, produced by Huchi Lora and Ramon Núñez. De Camps also expressed his opposition to the way the Senators (the majority is PRD), want to modify the Constitution. He said that if Congress wants to impose its will without taking into consideration other national sectors, a political crisis could result. He feels senators and deputies should allow that the constitutional reform discussions be handled by a commission made up by members of the Supreme Court of Justice, jurists, specialists, and spokespeople for the civic society.