The PPH-PRD chose Ramon Agramonte as its spokesman for the party in the Chamber of Deputies, as announced by party president Vicente Sanchez Baret. Agramonte?s appointment comes at a time when differences within the party could work against the interests of the PPH faction of the party.
The block of deputies loyal to Hatuey De Camps rejected the election of Ramon Agramonte as the party spokesman. Deputy Ovis Saldivar said that Agramonte represents the PPH and not the PRD. He said it is likely that a parallel block of deputies under the PRD banner would develop in the chamber, in response to the decision to appoint Agramonte. Hoy newspaper confirmed that in the election held yesterday, 53 of the 72 deputies voted for Agramonte.
As reported in El Caribe, in the 2002 congressional elections, the PRD obtained 72 deputy seats, the PLD 42 and the PRSC 36. Of these deputies, an estimated 12 support PRD dissident and ousted PRD president, Hatuey Decamps. Decamps was a strong opponent to the re-election of President Mejia and is now seen as an ally of President-elect Leonel Fernandez. The newspaper says that this leaves the PPH-PRD faction with a 60-deputy majority in the Chamber. In the past, most PRSC deputies have supported the PPH and Mejia administration bills, but one sector of the PRSC openly supported the candidacy of Fernandez. Thus, there could be an alteration in the composition of loyalties in Congress, a body known to vote more for political loyalty, political patronage and particular interests than for the welfare of the country.