Hatuey De Camps, president of the ruling PRD party, said yesterday in a press conference that re-election is not admissible in the statutes of the PRD. As reported by Hoy newspaper, De Camps discarded the notion that President Hip?lito Mej?a would be chosen as the party?s presidential candidate in the upcoming 2004 presidential elections. Yesterday, the press headlines focused on Mej?a?s challenge to De Camps to run against him in the PRD primaries. De Camps supports that other of the presidential hopefuls be chosen in party primaries. Polls rank De Camps himself as one of the least popular among the aspirants.
De Camps said that the President most likely challenged him because he is bothered by the results of a US poll company that indicate that 80% of the PRD party members are displeased. He said this is not to do with President Mej?a, but rather with the burgeoning cost of propane gas and the power tariffs, which he said are the most expensive in the world. He added that far from resolving the problems, these are everyday compounded by inefficiency and rising costs. De Camps said most citizens are unhappy with the depreciating peso and the increase in the prices of all basic consumer items.