High court ruling could prolong opposition party’s quagmire

Santo Domingo.- The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) yesterday ruled against a disciplinary procedures of former president Hipolito Mejia and three other senior leaders of the Dominican Republic’s major opposition party (PRD), in a procedure which had been scheduled for today.

The high Court ruled that the PRD Disciplinary Council violated due process when it failed to file specific charges against Mejia.

"All actions and proceedings arising after the order issued by the Disciplinary Board have no legal force or effect,” the TSE sentence says.

The ruling concludes the second legal battle waged by the two PRD factions, after the TSE suspended similar measure in June against that organization’s president Miguel Vargas, and the expulsion of other leaders.

The ruling also prolongs the PRD’s internal conflict and sends into disarray the organization’s planned convention to elect its new leadership.