The seven PRD Presidential pre-candidates opposing President Hipolito Mejia’s re-election plan suffered a blow with yesterday’s departure of party secretary Rafael “Fello” Subervi Bonilla. As reported in Thursday’s DR1 news, the seven – Milagros Ortiz Bosch, Enmanuel Esquea Guerrero, Hatuey Decamps, Rafael Abinader, Ramon Alburquerque, Rafael Flores Estrella and Fello Subervi- had been having difficulties selecting a single candidate to run against President Mejia. Subervi, who is acting Minister of Tourism in the Mejia administration, cited this irresolution as his reason for breaking from their ranks, calling it a “painful” decision. “The effort has been futile”, he told reporters late yesterday afternoon and called on his supporters to refrain from voting in Sunday’s plebiscite, planned by the seven in order to survey PRD membership on the question of the Presidential right to re-election. Subervi Bonilla will now campaign alone for his Presidential candidacy and maintains that he will not consider anything but the Presidential pre-candidacy option, preferring not to run as a Vice-Presidential candidate. It is thought, however, that he may now set his sights on joining President Mejia as his running mate. Although Namphy Rodriguez, of CDN Radio, speculated on his morning news talk show today that President Hipolito Mejia may surprise Dominicans and endorse the presidential candidacy of Subervi. Subervi seems to be gambling all for nothing. Rafael Flores Estrella commented that if what Subervi has in mind comes to nothing, the politician’s political career could flounder.
Subervi expressed his commitment to the party’s unity and called on all factions – including President Hipilito Mejia – to enter into dialogue with this end in mind. The remaining six pre-candidates voiced their disappointment at Fello’s decision to leave. Milagros Ortiz Bosch and Flores Estrella described his departure as “regrettable” and “unjustified”. Meanwhile, according to a report in Listin Diario, President Mejia made overtures towards Subervi Bonilla and Ortiz Bosch, proposing an alliance between the three.
The plebiscite is still set to go ahead this Sunday, despite patchy support from the regional branches of the PRD and, as reported in El Caribe, the fact that many party branches are calling on their members to abstain from voting. In Puerto Plata, San Cristobal and San Francisco supporters of the plebiscite have complained that activists of the PPH (Proyecto Presidencial Hipolito, PRD internal campaign for the President’s re-election) have been trying to prevent members from taking part in the vote.
Diario Libre’s back-page commentary “De buena tinta” by Adriano Miguel Tejada speculates on the timing of Fello’s departure, saying that the decision was probably precipitated by worrisome information regarding projected participation rates for Sunday’s plebiscite. If the plebiscite is a failure, writes Tejada, Fello’s position will be strengthened and he could be well-placed to join President Mejia on a Presidential ticket. If the plebiscite is successful, however, Fello will see his support decline. The column ends by saying that the whole thing may be engulfed by other events vying for the public’s attention this weekend, such as the baseball’s World Series and the Presidente music festival in Santo Domingo.
In a separate but related development, the disputes chamber of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) yesterday unanimously rejected the PPH’s attempt to have the planned plebiscite declared illegal. The JCE’s panel of five judges ruled that the plebiscite was a consultation of the party’s grassroots and was not intended to be of a legally binding nature, and could therefore go ahead.