President Hip?lito Mej?a has accepted the challenge to seek the presidential nomination of his PRD party and said that party must now issue its verdict on whether his work as President has been worthy. Speaking on Sunday evening?s ?Una Vez por Semana? show broadcast on the state-run television station, Mej?a explained that his previous feelings against re-election ?clash with reality?. He says he needs to prove that he is not a fallen tree.
Political analysts are saying that the problem with re-election is that in the past, heads of state have used the full resources of the state to promote their aspirations. President Mej?a himself had described re-election as ?a cancer for Dominican democracy?.
In the congressional elections, the massive import of zinc from Colombia for distribution to win votes for the PRD was very much criticized, albeit effective. Likewise, a Saturday event at which the President distributed titles to state-owned tracts of land to 6,200 people was used to promote Mej?a?s re-election.
Former Vice President Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal told the List?n Diario that most of the ministries have become campaign bases for those ministers seeking the presidential nomination or for the pro-Mej?a faction within the party, known as the Proyecto Presidencial Hip?lito (PPH). Prior to President Mej?a?s announcements confirming his bid for re-election, the ministers of the departments of education, health, tourism, the interior & police and agriculture had been very active promoting either the President?s potential candidacy or their own.