The second PRD convention, previously scheduled to have taken place this Sunday, will now take place in January, said Culture Minister Tony Raful, yesterday. This postponement followed meetings with President Hipolito Mejia and the three disgruntled pre-candidates who withdrew from the race earlier in the day. Milagros Ortiz Bosch, Rafael “Fello” Subervi Bonilla and Enmanuel Esquea Guerrero had refused to take part in Sunday’s vote, alleging widespread manipulation of the voting lists and vote-buying by the President’s supporters, the PPH faction. Agriculture Minister Eligio Jaquez, who is also a leading light of the PPH, attacked the three pre-candidates for their decision to exit, saying there were legal precedents for Mejia to run on his own. Hoy newspaper’s “Que se dice” column says that for the PRD to take that route would be the “best way of ensuring (the party’s) total and absolute destruction.” The Listin Diario newspaper quotes the President as saying that no one could force him to “give away” the candidacy.
Meanwhile, the PRD’s official candidate, Hatuey De Camps, who was selected at the first convention of the splintered party two weeks ago, met with Ortiz Bosch and Subervi Bonilla. De Camps reportedly offered his help, saying his “door was open” to attempts to find a solution for the good of the party. According to PRD election director Henry Mejia, De Camps would even relinquish his candidacy if necessary.
It appears that the deferred date for the primary is aimed at resolving the dispute between the participants, with a flurry of activity yesterday by the party’s prominent mediation figures, such as Peggy Cabral and Raful. The exact date for the re-scheduled convention has not been set. Dominican electoral law establishes 16 March 2004 as the deadline for registering all parties’ contenders in time for the 16 May Presidential election.
A July 2003 Gallup-Omnimedia poll of 1,201 eligible voters split the vote for the ruling PRD’s pre-candidates as follows: Hipolito Mejia, 8.7%; Milagros Ortiz Bosch, 7.7%; Rafael Subervi Bonilla, 5.7% and Hatuey De Camps, 2.7%. The same poll showed that 73% said that even if the President obtains the nomination from his party, he has slim chances of being re-elected. Mejia’s opponents argue that only a candidate that can distance themselves from the present government holds any hope of retaining power for the party. Independent polls show that of the leading candidates, Mejia has the highest nationwide rejection rate.