The power struggle within the PLD will be played out in the National Congress, reports Diario Libre. The outcome will depend on whether the party president Leonel Fernandez accepts and instructs his followers to vote for a one-time consecutive re-election that would be presented in Congress. The motion would make it possible for President Danilo Medina to run for re-election. Medina is the politician with the highest performance and popularity ratings in polls.
The PLD leadership has traditionally followed the Political Committee’s decisions but it appears that the hour-long conversation between Medina and Fernandez before the Political Committee meeting in Juan Dolio on Sunday 19 April 2015 did little to bring the two sides together in the fight for the presidency. Polls show that with Medina as candidate, the PLD would win the presidency in a first round vote. All other candidates are most likely to require a second round vote.
Political Committee member Jose Tomas Perez (who is the Dominican ambassador to the United States) has also warned that the legislators have to act on the decision of the Political Committee or face catastrophic consequences, as Fernandez will then no longer have authority and the PLD will have no leader. He said that Fernandez has never done anything to damage party unity and has always followed the majority decisions.
Members of the Political Committee told Diario Libre that Fernandez has always been opposed to constitutional reform in the current situation. Other party members say there should be a national referendum on the issue. Franklin Almeyda told Diario Libre that the Constitutional Court should decide whether or not a referendum is needed to modify the Constitution and if so then the Central Electoral Board (JCE) would need to be given the resources to carry it out.
Of the 35 voting members of the Political Committee, the votes against the re-election motion at the Sunday, 19 April 2015 meeting were cast by former President Leonel Fernandez, Margarita Cedeno, Rafael Alburquerque, Abel Martinez, Cesar Pina Toribio, Alma Fernandez, Franklin Almeyda, Radhames Jimenez, Alejandrina German, Julio Cesar Valentin and Bautista Rojas Gomez.
http://www.diariolibre.com/destacada/2015/04/21/i1110281_danilo-cedi-por-las-encuestas-los-reclamos.html