With the absence of Andr?s Bautista (PRD-Espaillat) and 12 of his followers, the remaining 17 senators, 16 of whom are PRD delegates, elected Jes?s V?squez Mart?nez (PRD-Mar?a Trinidad S?nchez) to be the new president of the
Senate. Juan Morales (PRD-Hato Mayor) was elected vice-president. PRD president Hatuey De Camps swore in the new officials.
In what appeared more like a power struggle among shareholders of a major corporation, those senators who favored the nomination of ?Chu? V?squez were sequestered in the Hotel Embajador until the voting began, descending on the Senate building in a
cavalcade of SUVs.