The Partido de la Liberación Dominicana instructed its legislators to not vote in favor of the reform bills that are in Congress and that now the PRD senators and congressmen say they will pass prior to the start of the PRD administration in August. Most of the reform bills have been in Congress since the February 1997, and up until now had met with opposition from the PRD legislators that scornfully called the collection of 12 reform bills "el paquetazo." Spokesman for the PLD José Tomás Pérez said in a press conference that the PLD feels that what is most convenient is to wait for President-elect Mejía to be in power so he can give his opinion and participate in the debates regarding the bills from the focus of being President of the Republic. PRD congressmen have said they are in favor of increasing the value-added tax to 10% and reducing tariffs to a maximum 20%. Other bills that languished in the Congress and now could be approved before August are the Ley de Contabilidad del Estado, the Codigo Ambiental, Codigo Monetario y Financiero, Ley de Seguridad Social and the Ley General de Electricidad. While the PRD is majority in the Senate, its majority is relative in the Chamber of Deputies. While elected on the PRD ticket or allied to the PRD, 12 deputies now side with either the PLD or the PRSC making it impossible for the PRD congressmen alone to make the quorum to pass any bill. Thus, the PRD needs to ally with the PRSC deputies or the PLD deputies to make quorum to pass the bills. Furthermore, to avoid a presidential veto, the PRD needs to have the vote of two-thirds of the 149 congressman for which it would need the vote of 19 opposing deputies to override a veto by President Leonel Fernández.
