Writing in El Caribe newspaper?s opinion page, sociologist and PLD political leader Max Puig wonders aloud what the PRD?s Plan B is. He muses that in consolidated democracies politicians usually present their candidates and programs in the hopes of winning the election. ?There is no Plan B, because it?s about winning in elections that should be as clean as possible.?
He then contemplates those countries with weak institutions, where things may not happen this way and where concerted efforts are made to discard the will of the citizens as expressed in their votes. He thinks back on how President Hipolito Mejia, forged ahead by making changes in the Constitution to eliminate all obstacles to his bid for re-election, forced his candidacy on his party and now pretends he will continue on in the Presidency. ?Everything indicates that he will not be able to win by Plan A, the only one valid for democracy,? he writes. With just weeks to go for the election, Puig says it is highly improbable there to expect a volte-face that would legitimately permit him a second term of office. But, he wonders, how come the President and his supporters insist, with an assurance that is surprising given their electoral frailty, that they will continue in government after the 16 August inaugural ceremony.
Puig writes that this insistence has many suspecting that the PPH, the faction that supports Mejia, has a Plan B to stay in power. He cites the precedents of the 2002 election, the declared intention to use international aid to foster re-election and the actual support of the military to the reelection cause, as being indicators of the government?s lack of democratic spirit.
Nevertheless, he believes it would be a mission impossible for this Plan B to succeed in the present circumstances. ?The enormous discredit of the government and the vigilant attitude of a decisive group of citizens will stand before them,? he writes. ?However, one has to be prepared for surprises that can range from a dirty campaign to the purchase of party delegates on the polling stations. And we will have to think up a Plan B for citizens if the re-election proponents try to walk away with the vote by appealing to trickery and illegality.?