The behind-the-scene shady deals aimed at the control of the Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD) have allegedly been in the works since last July, when Rubén De León, a PRD member, was elected to the presidency of the National Assembly.
According to PRD assembly member Ivan Picota, a number of PRD members including Elías Castillo, Leandro Ávila, Quibián Panay, Javier Ortega, Pedro Miguel González and Rubén De León have struck deals to gain control of the Assembly.
“Those dissident PRD members will have the opportunity to try and gain control of the party in the July and October internal elections. That would give them the chance to execute their ultimate scheme”, he argued. Mr. Picota went on to say that “hopefully their actions will not harm the party – may the best candidates win, and may we start the much-needed reconstruction of the party, working all together in the same direction”.
PRD Assembly Member Raul Pineda added that the current situation is rather delicate, but that the ability of Assembly members to influence the party can in reality be rather limited.“Without the control of the National Assembly, things can be tough: political differences will always exist, especially when the time to elect delegates draws closer”, he argued.
According to former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares, the selection of the new President of the Assembly is the responsibility of legislators and legislators alone: “I do not wish to get involved in that”, he added.
For his part, the Secretary General of the party, Carlos Perez Herrera, warned of the danger of trying to enlist party members via the distribution of favours and cushy jobs provided by the current government. According to Mr. Perez Herrera, this plan has been in the making since the election of Ruben De Leon as the head of the legislative body last July.
