The Partido de la Liberación Dominicana, convened through January to evaluate its past performance to prepare for the future, has released an internal document containing several of the findings and analysis of the first weeks of meetings. The PLD in its first report criticizes the way the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the party for the 2000 election were chosen. "The patronage system (clientelismo), violation of guidelines, methods and principles of the party, exclusion of the party bodies, unloyal situations and another anomalies in the campaign turned the way the presidential and vice presidential candidates were chosen into a catastrophe and uncontrollable situation to the point of buying the conscience of fellow party members. The popularity of a candidate among the population was not taken into account. The party elected another without thinking that it is the citizens who vote. The party recommends that in the future the will of the majority of the population be taken into account. The PLD was referring to the choice by party members of Secretary of the Presidency Danilo Medina vs. Vice President Jaime David Fernández Mirabal, whom polls showed was a more marketable candidate. At the time, Danilo Medina was chosen because he had more influence within the 3,000 voting party members than the Vice President. Danilo Medina rejected the opinion that he won the candidacy based on the patronage system, justifying that the party members valued his efforts and sacrifice to the party.
