As expected, former President Joaquín Balaguer, who is 93 years old, physically impaired and blind, accepted his unanimous proclamation as the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano’s candidate in the May 2000 election. His running for President is a strategic and symbolic move. The PRSC leader is in an excellent position to negotiate what he wants from the two leading political parties that covet his vote to win the Presidency. Polls indicate he does not have enough votes to reach the Presidency. But he does command enough to decide who will be the next President of the DR, either in the first round or the second round, that would be held 30 June in the likely scenario that none of the contenders achieve the 50%+1 of the vote necessary to win the presidency in the first round. At the PRSC convention, 2,975 delegates raised their hands in favor of Balaguer as presidential candidate. At the last minute, former Vice President Jacinto Peynado declined his candidacy. During the convention, PRSC delegates booed the attending ruling party Partido de la Liberación Dominicana delegates (Alejandrina Germán, Euclides Gutiérrez and Miguel Cocco), and applauded the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano delegates (Hatuey de Camps, Tony Raful, Rafael Suberví, Peggy Cabral, Rafael Gamundi, Eligio Jáquez, Fausto Liz and Virgilio Bello). The PLD reached power in 1996 when Balaguer endorsed the candidacy of PLD contender, today President Leonel Fernández. The PRD won several congressional and municipal positions when Balaguer provided his support in the 1998 congressional and municipal election.
