President Hipolito Mejia, speaking yesterday at a political rally in Villa Duarte, called on his followers to close their ears to the polls. He said these are merely “interpretations to try to drive us nuts.” President Mejia spoke to his supporters at the event, where the television crew’s equipment provided the only lighting, as the barrio was in the midst of a four-hour blackout.
The recent Penn Schoen and Gallup polls were the offensive surveys Mejia was referring to, as they showed former President Leonel Fernandez with a considerable lead over any of the potential PRD candidates.
Legal advisor to the Executive Branch, Guido Gomez Mazara, said that the results should promote a greater union between PRD members. Gomez Mazara is a spokesman for the PPH faction of the PRD, which seeks to re-elect President Mejia to a controversial second term of office and has split the party. Gomez contended that the polls only depict political sympathies, not actual votes.