DOMINICAN ELECTIONS #18: UN, EU AND OAS REPS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 000473 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/OAS, DRL/PHD NSC FOR SHANNON AND MADISON LABOR FOR ILAB TREASURY FOR OASIA-LAMONICA USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: DR PGOV EAID EU SUBJECT: DOMINICAN ELECTIONS #18: UN, EU AND OAS REPS ENGAGE ELECTORAL AUTHORITIES REF: A. (A) SANTO DOMINGO 233 (NOTAL) ¶B. (B) SANTO DOMINGO 406 ¶1. (SBU) Following is number 18 in our Dominican presidential election series: UN, EU and OAS Reps Engage Dominican Electoral Authorities A UN Mission, Soon - - - - - - - - - - UN Resident Representative Niky Fabiancic informed the Ambassador and poloff on January 12 that the UN Elections Division would send a two-person technical mission -- not election observers -- to Santo Domingo soon to advise the Central Election Board (JCE) on how to remedy its deficiencies. "Whatever the JCE's weaknesses," he commented, "It is the official body in charge of the elections and should be supported by the international community in the interest of a transparent and clean electoral process." The UN expects to defer to the OAS on sending international election observers. The Ambassador agreed with these goals and offered the Embassy's collaboration. He emphasized our "zero tolerance" approach to any electoral fraud. Fabiancic considers that the Board suffers from chronic problems of organization and human resources, rather than political bias of the nine judges. He pointed to antiquated procedures and incorrect data in the civil registry (the basis for voter lists). Fabiancic says that chief judge of the JCE administrative chamber Nelson Gomez, in charge of election logistics, and the other two judges of that chamber have shown "good will" to do the job right. The UN technical mission expects to offer training for judges of municipal election boards and perhaps other assistance. Fabiancic expressed his personal reservations about a controversial "Ley de Lemas" proposal to amend the election law, now under consideration in Congress (Ref A). He finds it "inopportune" and untimely, just four months prior to election day (May 16). He thought the "tense" atmosphere would last until the a vote on the measure, January 15 (later postponed in the face of a legislative boycott and civil society protests). Fabiancic said that the drafters had deleted a provision that votes for all the candidates from the same party would go to the highest vote-getter among them. The bill attempts to approximate the direct-vote requirement of the constitution, he commented, with a second round between the winning candidates of the two most-voted parties in the first round (assuming no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote). The Ambassador replied that the bill was perceived by President Mejia's critics as a power grab, but that to date the proponents had been proceeding within the law. Fabiancic's staff subsequently informed us that the UN technical mission would be postponed until the "Ley de Lemas" issue had been resolved. EU Ambassador offers elections assistance - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - EU Ambassador Miguel Amado has featured in recent weeks in a newspaper back-and-forth polemic with JCE head Arias, repeatedly expressing EU "concern" about the electoral arrangements. Arias has expressed surprise at Amado's remarks and in a January 18 television interview shot back, "It's one thing to observe and another to meddle in the internal affairs of the JCE." Op-ed commentators have defended Amado, arguing that as party to the Cotonou convention on EU assistance, the Dominican Republic granted the EU the privilege of assessing national political developments. On January 12 Amb. Amado told the Ambassador and DCM the same day that the JCE judges as "politicized," a concern he intended to communicate to JCE President Luis Arias. Amado criticized the "Ley de Lemas" bill as costly and disruptive to electoral preparations. The Ambassador commented that despite the public perceptions of it, for now he prefers to avoid taking sides on the legislation. On January 13, Amado and an EU legal adviser met with Arias and offered financial support from an EU aid fund for training of Dominican personnel who would oversee the election process. The EU Mission later confirmed to us that the EU would not provide international election observers. OAS surveys need for observers - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In a related development, special adviser to the OAS Unit for Promotion of Democracy Santiago Murray visited the JCE, the Embassy, and other entities here on January 15 to discuss a possible OAS election observer mission. (Ref B). ¶2. (U) Drafted by Bainbridge Cowell. HERTELL