President Hipolito Mejia joked with reporters who asked him for his opinions on last Sunday’s PRD primary election. The voting was won by re-election opponent Hatuey De Camps, beating out Ramon Alburquerque and Rafael Abinader. “No-one saw it, it was an abstract affair, held in familiar intimacy,” said the President. He added that all the reports he had received cited inconsistencies in the process, and that “votes materialized, like the person who presents statistics but adds on a few zeros for good measure”. This coming weekend will see the remaining pre-candidates – Hipolito Mejia, Milagros Ortiz Bosch, Rafael Subervi Bonilla and Enmanuel Esquea Guerrero – locking horns for selection. The newspapers this morning carry full-page paid advertisements with poll results showing Hipolito Mejia with a clear lead of 51.4% over his nearest rival, Fello Subervi, with 30.1%. It shows that even if the other three were to combine their votes, they would only have 46.5%, not enough to strip Mejia of his absolute majority. The poll was carried out using a sample of 1,251 PRD members between 4-6 December, by Alfonso, Cabrera & Asociados.