DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Opposition presidential candidate Hipolito Mejia holds campaign closing rally in Santo Domingo

Record ID: 863469

  • Title: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Opposition presidential candidate Hipolito Mejia holds campaign closing rally in Santo Domingo
  • Date: 20th May 2012
  • Summary: MEJIA COMING OUT TO MAKE ADDRESS AT CLOSING OF ELECTION RALLY/ HE GREETS OFFICIALS AND SUPPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRD CANDIDATE HIPOLITO MEJIA, SAYING: "We are determined that on May 20 our people will express themselves with enthusiasm, happiness and optimism."
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Dominican Republic
  • City:
  • Country: Dominican Republic
  • Topics: Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVACYPGKZ6RZDK4M8LQT56R2WBB3
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  • Story Text: Voters in the Dominican Republic's presidential election on Sunday (May 20) will choose between two candidates vying to be seen as agents of change, even though one represents the ruling party and the other is a former president.
    Making the choice even harder, both candidates represent centre-left political parties in a race devoid of major ideological differences and lacking a conservative option.
    Polls show 60-year-old Danilo Medina, of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), leading by a comfortable margin of 5 to 10 percentage points over 70-year-old Hipolito Mejia, who is hoping to return to power for the opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) eight years after a failed re-election bid.
    Mejia, who ended his election campaigning with a large rally in Santo Domingo on Friday (May 18), called on Dominicans to to participate in Sunday's vote.
    "We are determined that on May 20 our people will express themselves with enthusiasm, happiness and optimism," he said.
    Mejia established a large lead early in the race, in part due to government austerity measures in the face of the global economic recession that hit the Caribbean hard.
    Mejia burnished his message of change with a populist campaign slogan, "Llego Papa" (Daddy's Here), that promised a better future "for everyone."
    Notoriously loose-tongued, Mejia saw his campaign lose steam in recent weeks after a series of gaffes, undermining his working-class support base. In a news conference two weeks ago, he said corruption in the country was so bad that housemaids had become so untrustworthy they were capable of stealing food off their employers' dinner tables to take home to their boyfriends.
    While the Dominican Republic is far wealthier than Haiti, its poor neighbour on the island of Hispaniola, many Dominicans still struggle to satisfy basic needs, prompting some to seek a better life by slipping in to nearby Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.
    The Dominican Republic is a popular resort spot, famous for its white sandy beaches and golf courses, but it also is the leading Caribbean transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the United States and Europe.
    About 5 percent of the nation's 6.5 million eligible voters live abroad, including 220,000 registered voters in the United States, mostly in the New York area.
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