The Hoy newspaper-Hamilton Beattie and Staff poll conducted in early February shows that the PLD would be the most likely winner if presidential elections were held now. The answers of the 1,200 people surveyed to three possible combinations of candidates were:
1) Leonel Fernandez 45% (PLD), Hipolito Mejia 27% (PRD), Jacinto Peynado 16% (PRSC) 16%.
2) Leonel Fernandez 47% (PLD), Milagros Ortiz 27% (PRD), Eduardo Estrella (PRSC) 18%.
3) Jaime David Fernandez 41% (PLD), Hipolito Mejia 26% (PRD), Quique Antun 17% (PRSC).
With the exception of Jacinto Peynado, the key members of the PRSC have proven to be strong allies of the Mejia government throughout the first two and a half years of government. To win the presidential election 50 percent of the vote plus one is needed. During the 2000 elections, Hipolito Mejia received almost 49 percent of the votes, thus a second round was deemed unnecessary. Nevertheless, this time around, given the lull in the PRD?s popularity, sectors within the party seek to ally with factions within the PRSC to gain the necessary votes to win in a first round.
This particular part of the 7-10 February survey is especially interesting because of the insight it provides into the PRSC, also indicating where its presidential hopefuls stand. Until now, former Vice President of the Republic, Senator of Santo Domingo and PRSC presidential candidate in the 1996-2000 elections, Jacinto Peynado, had been second only to the party?s former leader, the late Joaquin Balaguer. Peynado, however, until very recently, had kept a low profile, while Eduardo Estrella (a former senator of Santiago) and Quique Antun (a close collaborator of Balaguer) have been more aggressive in pushing their names to the forefront. The PRSC primaries are set for 30 March.
The 27-percent voting preference assigned to Hipolito Mejia and Vice President Milagros Ortiz Bosch could signify that the general public is not setting distance between the declining popularity of Mejia and its general perception of the ruling PRD party.