Opposition party’s factions back in court today

SANTO DOMINGO.- The two factions of Dominican Republic’s opposition PRD party pitting Hipolito Mejia and Miguel Vargas will attend a hearing today in the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), which cold define the organization’s future.

The TSE subpoenaed the 130 members of the PRD’s Political Committee, which had suspended Vargas as the party’s president, three senior leaders and expelled seven.

Starting 9am the high court must weigh the merits of the challenge filed by Vargas’ faction, which seeks to revoke the PRD’s decisions.

Mejia’s faction also expelled the senior leaders Anibal Garcia Duvergé, Julio Mariñez, Victor Gomez Casanova and Rafael (Fiquito) Vasquez.

The judges had postponed the hearing attended by both factions last Friday to subpoena the PRD members who adopted the decision and ruled to suspend a meeting of the National Executive Committee (CEN), which was held last Sunday despite the court order.

Yesterday’s the head of Mejia’s faction Andres Bautista said he expects the TSE to rule that it has no jurisdiction to intervene in the case since it’s an internal conflict of a disciplinary nature.