Dominican Republic’s opposition party chiefs on the warpath again

Santo Domingo.- Two separate statements on Monday, one by former president Hipolito Mejia and the other by an opposition deputy have stoked fears that the PRD party’s internal crisis will unleash another violent confrontation on July 19, when a meeting of senior leaders is slated to take place, convened by one of the factions.

Mejia said a meeting of the PRD’s National Executive Committee (CEN) should result from an “understanding” between the faction led by PRD president Miguel Vargas and his, otherwise he’ll continue the conflict, "eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth."

He stressed that a meeting of the CEN cannot be staged without an agreement between the two factions as the PRD’s bylaws stipulate.

More than broken chairs

But PRD party deputy Esther Minyeti went even further, warning Vargas that it he convenes the CEN, “not only will broken chairs fly, but everything,” in reference to the brawl in January among the PRD rank and file at party headquarters that left several injured by gunshot, dozens of chairs broken and their offices ransacked.