The dean of the School of Law of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra explains today in his contribution to El Caribe that the so-called Ley de Lemas (Law of Parties) boils down to a formula that would combine the votes of the leading PRD politicians against those of the single PLD candidate, Leonel Fernandez. Flavio Dario Espinal says it is simply a case of “all against one.” Espinal expresses his concern that the legislation change would be contested because it violates articles 49, 90 and 91 of the Dominican Constitution. Espinal says the approval of the Ley de Lemas would lead to delays that require major adjustments in the organization of the May 2004 election, in case the Supreme Court of Justice rules in favor of it. Espinal concurs with legal expert Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman, who in an article in Hoy newspaper yesterday pointed out that, as laws are not retroactive, the other parties that have already chosen their presidential candidates would be competing on unfair grounds. These parties would be taking single candidates to the polls, without the advantage of being able to merge all votes garnered by a group of party leaders, as the Ley de Lemas proposes. Espinal concludes with the wish that the PRD think over the move promptly and save the country a political-electoral crisis of unforeseeable consequences.