FORMAL PACT: CIVIC LEADERS TO MONITOR DOMINICAN

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 004915 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR WHA/CAR - GILROY, MCISAAC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: DR PGOV SUBJECT: FORMAL PACT: CIVIC LEADERS TO MONITOR DOMINICAN ELECTIONS ¶1. (U) A ceremony including President Mejia, other presidential candidates, GODR officials, business and union leaders, and the diplomatic corps, held September 8 at the Catholic University in Santo Domingo, formally approved a non-government committee ("comision de seguimiento") of nine academic and business notables to monitor the preparation and execution of presidential elections scheduled for May 16. The committee was tasked with following the work of the Central Election Board (Junta Central Electoral - JCE) in organizing the elections and tallying results, to ensure "a free, transparent, credible, and participative electoral process, without distortions or irregularities." The committee will be chaired by Catholic University Rector Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, who has served as a political mediator in previous campaigns. ¶2. (U) President Mejia promised that his administration would ¬ place any obstacle to the success of the day of dialogue" and that "from the National Palace there will be no mischief of any sort" (with regard to the elections). Local press ran photos of Mejia embracing one of his rivals for the PRD nomination, party president Hatuey De Camps, and shaking hands with former president and main political adversary Leonel Fernandez (PLD). ¶3. (U) The meeting also approved a "declaration of commitments" by the same political parties, private sector groups, and other institutions which have been engaged since last October in a "national dialogue" to draft a national development agenda. The declaration outlined objectives for political, institutional, electoral, economic, and social development. Publication of the full agenda was promised for March, in time for it to be incorporated into the parties' platforms before the elections. ¶4. (SBU) JCE President Luis Arias, in a subsequent conversation with the Ambassador (to be reported septel), said the ceremony had "contributed something" to reducing controversy and the monitoring committee would be able to verify that the JCE is doing its job properly. Arias cited his "positive experience" with past election monitoring committees and recalled that business members had recruited computer experts for the JCE. However, he warned that the committee's role "is not to supplant but to collaborate with" the JCE. The Ambassador responded to Arias and later remarked to the press that the committee is a tremendous step forward for dialogue and transparency and will give the people more confidence in the electoral process and reduce tensions. In a separate meeting, ex-president Fernandez agreed with the Ambassador that the new committee deserves support, but asserted that the JCE is "not trustworthy" (other topics septel). ¶5. (SBU) Comment: The monitoring committee was launched amid rising concern over the fairness of the electoral process that will culminate in May. It follows a 20-year tradition in the Dominican Republic of civic oversight of the electoral process. Opposition parties such as the PLD (report septel) have criticized what they see as a heavily pro-PRD bias at the JCE, military meddling in the campaign, use of government resources to advance President Mejia's candidacy, and a possibility of violent demonstrations. Mejia,s ambitions for reelection against the wishes of other PRD leaders and his dwindling popularity -- an effect of the nation's economic problems -- have fueled suspicion that the President will resort to chicanery. The committee of notables will help to assuage these fears. (There are encouraging immediate precedents: Dominican elections since 1996 were judged by international observers to have been free of serious irregularities.) HERTELL