Dominicans Turn Politics Upside-Down

(AP Photo)  Former President Hipolito Mejia's handling of a 2003 economic crisis cost him re-election two years ago, and it appears that angry Dominicans may now be handing his rival a congressional majority.

With some 1.8 million votes counted Thursday night, President Leonel Fernandez's Dominican Liberation Party was leading in about two-thirds of legislative races, according to election officials, who also cautioned that many races in Tuesday's vote were too close to call.

The key issue in carnival-like campaigning across the country of nearly 9 million was the economy — which suffered blow after blow under Mejia.

Electricity shortages were rampant, and inflation reached 42 percent. The 2003 collapse of the country's second-largest bank triggered a $2.2 billion bailout followed by a 65 percent devaluation of the Dominican peso.

The major parties differed on how to respond to the crisis: Mejia borrowed and renationalized utilities, while Fernandez aimed to stabilize the peso, reduce inflation and work with the International Monetary Fund to rebuild the economy.

Inflation has since fallen and the country's gross domestic product grew 7 percent in 2005, according to the Central Bank.

In the Dominican Republic's first congressional election since the crisis, voters appeared to be rewarding Fernandez, whose party previously controlled just one Senate seat and about a quarter of the House seats.

On Thursday, electoral officials reported that Dominican Liberation was winning 50 percent of the national vote and ahead in races for 20 of the Caribbean nation's 32 provinces.

Mejia's center-left Dominican Revolutionary Party led eight races, with 27 percent of the vote, and the Social Christian Reformist Party was ahead in four, with 20 percent. The two parties joined campaigns and did not compete with each other in 27 provinces.

The electoral commission said just a few hundred votes separated several races.

More than 5.4 million people were registered to vote in Tuesday's election, but officials did not have turnout estimates and it was unclear how many ballots remained to be counted. The electoral commission did not say when final results would be available.

Going into the election, Mejia's party held 72 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 29 of the 32 Senate seats — and wielded that majority to hold up Fernandez-backed projects such as the construction of a Santo Domingo metro and parts of his economic policy.

In municipal elections, Fernandez's Dominican Liberation led the race for 151 mayorships with 45 percent of the vote; Mejia's party trailed with 34 percent.

In a race many said was a bellwether, current House majority leader and Mejia ally Alfredo Pacheco was losing to the incumbent mayor of Santo Domingo's National District, Roberto Salcedo, by more than 17,700 votes.

Dominican media reported that violence between party supporters led to several deaths. The head of the Organization of American States' observer mission, Ruben Perina, denounced the violence but did not provide details.

Twenty-two parties from across the political spectrum fielded candidates in the legislative elections. With 28 representatives added this year, 210 legislative seats and 151 mayoral spots were up for grabs.

JONATHAN M. KATZ