The PRD Presidential pre-candidates met yesterday for 50 minutes with President Hipolito Mejia to discuss preparations for their upcoming primary. The press speculated that pre-candidates Milagros Ortiz Bosch, Rafael Subervi and Enmanuel Esquea could still decide not to participate in the convention that has been rescheduled for this Sunday, 21 December, given the widespread irregularities found in the list.
The 21 December primary will be the second such convention called by the PRD. In a first primary held 7 December, party president Hatuey de Camps was chosen as the PRD candidate for the 16 May Presidential election. His opponent Rafael Abinader accused de Camps of extensive fraud.
President Hipolito Mejia, commenting on the PRD voting list, said: “The problem of the (PRD) voting list is a routine problem and there is a technical commission in charge of that and the candidates should not get involved.” While saying that any difficulty would be easy to resolve, he told Hoy reporters that he is sure he will win the primary.
One of the possible solutions now being contemplated is to ditch the current lists and revert to that of 1999.