This is the week that political alliances are supposed to be all tied up and reported to the public. The PRSC party, the “Reformist” party, is currently trying to obtain the best terms it can for the up-coming elections. During the last presidential election the reformists came in a poor third place, but, according to observers, they hold the balance of power and their support can virtually guarantee a victory for either of the other two parties, the governing PLD or the opposition PRD.
The reformists, according to Diario Libre, are well aware of their market value, and they are using it to get the best deal possible. The paper says that the PRD and the PLD are like wolves trying to “eat Little Red Riding Hood”. The PRD are analyzing a proposal made by the reformists last week and have promised them an answer by tomorrow. Meanwhile, the reformists are using the offer received from the PLD as the basis of their further negotiations, but none of the parties are talking about the key points of any alliance.
Both Hoy and Diario Libre discuss how magistrate Roberto Rosario Marquez has criticized the way in which such political alliances are made. In fact, he said that the whole process could plunge the democratic system into crisis. In his judgment, the quantity of proposals and counter-proposals for different posts is the best example of the degeneration of the democratic system as expressed by the three main parties, since the demise of their historical leaders. The JCE magistrate went so far as to say that the parties are even discussing the composition of the Supreme Court, the General Accounting Office and the Central Electoral Board.