SANTO DOMINGO.– The agreement between ex opposition PRD party presidential candidate Miguel Vargas and president Leonel Fernandez to eliminate the "never again" clause on consecutive reelection in the new Constitution has unleashed a major crisis in that organization, in the ruling PLD, the opposition PRSC partie, after the PRD president said Vargas doesn’t have any authority to strike political deals or seek the that entity’s presidency, describing it a disrespect to its party’s rank-and-file and its statutes.

(Fernandez and Vargas agreed that the deputies elected in 2010 will remain until 2016 and the reelection would require a four year hiatus and may be sougth for two terms afterwards.)

PRD president Ramon Alburquerque Thursday morning said the negotiation is a lack of tact, indignant and a pact of evil augur that violates "everything," since the party’s statutes clearly establish how and in what manner to negotiate with other political groups.

He said the PRD’s members must demand respect from Vargas, and said his action provides a glimpse into what he would be if he reaches the Presidency; an Arab sheik and an Ayatola.

He said the PRD leaders including ex president Hipólito Mejía will meet in the next few hours to analyze the situation, in the PRD’s offices.

Alburquerque spoke after calling a surprise press conference in his residence, after the announcement that Fernandez and Vargas would consolidate their pact at 11 a.m. with their signatures in the Hotel Jaragua in the Capital.

The PRSC and PLD

The turmoil spread to the opposition PRSC, whose Chamber of Deputies spokesman Ramon Rogelio Genao called Miguel Vargas, “the Reformist Party’s worst enemy,” after negotiations with the former presidential candidate failed.

Meanwhile, in the ruling PLD yesterday’s absence by most of that party’s lawmakers in the debates to reform the Constitution was attributed to their discontent with Fernandez's negotiations with leaders of both opposition parties, a situation which led PLD general secretary Reinaldo Pared to tell reporters to “go ask the President about those negotiations.”

The details

The agreement calls for Fernandez not to seek reelection in 2012 in exchange for the PRD assembly members to approve seven points of the Constitutional Reform; the sitting President will not be able to seek reelection for a third consecutive term; the freezing of the number of members of the Chamber of Deputies; the election of legislators for Dominicans abroad; deputies with national representation; and to hold the presidential and congressional elections jointly in 2016, among others.

“It’s a special day in which we all must congratulate ourselves… For us the topic of re-election isn’t about principles. It’s necessary to always place the national interest above particular interests,” Fernandez said when he presented the agreement to the press.