First woman in presidency bid hopes for a runoff

Santo Domingo.- Minerva Josefina (Minou) Tavarez Mirabal,the country’s first woman to mount a bid for the presidency, on Tuesday saidher campaign’s best push would be a runoff election after the May 15 polls.

"Our bet is that there is a second round," said thecandidate for the minority party Alliance for Democracy and daughter of nationalheroes Manolo Tavarez and Minerva Mirabal

Interviewed by El Caribe media group, the National Districtdeputy admits that none of the opposition parties can defeat the ruling PLD atthe polls in a first round.

She acknowledged that there’s little chance that theopposition will coalesce prior to the elections. “Polarization benefits the Government’sstrategy.”

Tavarez said one ofthe objectives of the runoff voting system is to try to break polarization so thepeople can vote for the various options.