Dominican Republic’s opposition party makes major split official

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic’s opposition party (PRD) will for at least the fifth time undergo a major split, as former president Hipolito Mejia on Tuesday announced that his faction will seek recognition from the Central Electoral Board (JCE).

The announcement comes after more than a year of bitter confrontations some of them violent, pitting Mejia with PRD president Miguel Vargas.

He said the group of dissidents, dubbed the Majority PRD, which he heads together with Luis Abinader, aims to seek recognition as a new party.

He said his faction will form a new political organization with people whom he affirms will come from the PRD.

Mejia, speaking at the Israeli Embassy, said the new political platform will present candidates for the 2016 election and already has all the required signatures. “We are the majority PRD and we will pass into a voter registry, we’ll give it a name and that will already be the party."