Weekly Report - 28 April 2011 (WR-11-17)

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | First Lady pulls out. The Dominican Republic's First Lady, Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, has confirmed that she will not stand as a presidential pre-candidate for the ruling Partido de Liberación Dominicana (PLD) in the June primaries ahead of the May 2012 presidential contest. The surprise announcement comes two weeks after she was nominated by the PLD leadership committee, which in turn followed confirmation by her husband, Leonel Fernández that he would not stand again [WR-11-15]. Her decision to pull out, which reportedly was aimed at easing internal tensions within the PLD, leaves six pre-presidential candidates in the running, of which the most notable are the current Vice-President, Rafael Alburquerque, who Fernández had previously tapped as a successor, and the current favourite Danilo Medina, a party strongman, former secretary of state in the presidency (1996-2000, 2004-2006), and a former congress leader (1994-1996) who represents the main opposition faction within the party.

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