In his column today, Monday 23 March 2015, Diario Libre executive editor Adriano Miguel Tejada speculates that the legislators, who have been in their posts for six years, would support the motion for changing the Constitution to move to Congress because then they would have the opportunity to negotiate staying on in their posts. Legislators are among the best paid Dominican government officials.
Tejada writes that while 50%+1 of the vote is needed to win the presidential election in a first round, and poll results suggest that a second round will be needed to win, this is not the case for legislators and municipal officials, who win in a simple vote.
He points out that the opposition parties have yet to begin promotions for the legislative and municipal candidates, while PLD pre-candidates’ propaganda is getting a head start.
He speculates: “The government party could sweep the legislative and municipal elections and this would be known prior to the second round. The election is scheduled for Sunday, 21 May 2016, but a second round would be in June. The impact that this win will have on the presidential candidate if the second round is necessary remains to be seen,” he writes.