On February 22, 1941, he was born in Gurabo, Santiago, the former President of the Republic, Hipólito Mejía, who turns 80 on this day.
The last national election in which Mejía participated was in 2012, as a candidate of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), when he obtained 46.95% of the votes cast and remained in second place, being defeated by Danilo Medina and Dominican Liberation Party (PLD).
After that, Mejía left with a large faction of the PRD, led by Luis Abinader, and formed the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) in September 2014.
There, he loses the internal contest for the 2016 presidential candidacy of Luis Abinader, who was his voting partner in 2012, and becomes one of the top leaders of the PRM that would enter its first electoral contest, with less than two years since it was formed.
Following the results of those 2016 elections, the PRM underwent another internal process and this time they will decide their presidential candidate for the 2020 elections with primary elections in which only those who were registered in the party will vote.
In that contest, held on October 6, 2019, Mejía would lose by a margin of over 60% of Luis Abinader, who will rise with the PRM candidacy and, later, will increase with the presidency of the Republic.
Cabinet officials in the current government
Mejía remained with a certain incidence in the governmental administration of Abinader. There are several who were in the cabinet of the Mejía administration, which is also part of the current government.
Among them are the Minister of Defense, Carlos Luciano Díaz Morfa, who was the head of the army and the head of security for Mejía; the coordinator of the Cabinet of Social Policies, Francisco Antonio (Tony) Peña Guaba, was secretary (minister) of Youth; the director of the social plan, Yadira Henríquez, who was secretary (minister) for women.
He has no aspirations for 2024
An alleged movement called the “H-24”, which appears to have sought to garner political support in the run-up to the next election, has warned that Mejía could run for president in 2024. This was rejected by the former president himself.
“Given the persistence of this statement in various media in the country, as well as public rumors, I consider it appropriate to clarify that I have not trained or authorized any leader, either in the country or abroad, to promote the candidacy of my leader, including the presidency. To the Republic for the general elections “, the political leader expressed in a document he sent to the press.
In it, he stresses that at the moment he is “determined” to help the country so that it can successfully overcome the “crisis inherited from the previous government”.
The 2000 elections
Mejía was President of the Republic from 2000 to 2004, after reaching 49.87% of the vote, defeating Danilo Medina, a candidate for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), and Joaquín Balaguer in the by-elections. Candidate for the Christian Social Reform Party (PRSC).
Political life
Before becoming President of the Republic, Mejía was appointed director of the National Tobacco Institute in 1965, which served as undersecretary of state. In 1971 he was president of the National Association of Agricultural Professionals (ANPA).
In 1978, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture during the government of PRD President Antonio Guzmán Fernández, and according to journalistic reports, Mejía created law programs for agro-industry and incentives were approved to promote the development and modernization of rural agriculture.
He ran for the Santiago Senate in 1982, lost and was José Francisco Peña Gómez’s voting partner in the 1990 elections.
He will not celebrate his birthday
Hipólito Mejía announced that he and his family have decided not to celebrate 80 years because of the Covid-19 pandemic that is affecting the country.
“On the occasion of the celebration of eighty years of life, on the 22nd of this month, I want to inform my friends and relatives that this time, due to the pandemic that affects us, my family and I decided not to celebrate, as it was common, the meeting with the open doors that we traditionally hold in our house “, said the former president in his message.
