PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: LEFTIST PARTY HOPES TO

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000586 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV DR SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: LEFTIST PARTY HOPES TO BUILD INDEPENDENT GRASSROOT MOVEMENT REF: SANTO DOMINGO 418 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In his April 16 meeting with PolOff, Guillermo Moreno, the presidential candidate for the political party Movement for Independence, Unity, and Change (MIUCA),expressed concern about the allegations of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party's (PLD) use of state resources for the electoral campaign, widespread corruption, lack of strong institutions as well as lack of national policy on dealing with insecurity and crime and economic development. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) MIUCA hopes to provide an alternate option to the three major political parties for the upcoming elections and, despite polling at only one percent, the party has some significance as the representative of the far left. Moreno intends to capitalize on the disillusionment of Dominican voters with a corrupt, patronage-based political system and, considering his slim chances of actual electoral victory, he characterizes a vote for him as a "vote of conscience." He hopes that grass-root support for his ideas and platform would snowball to affect future elections in 2010 and 2012. MIUCA, in reaching out to various local community and neighborhood, women, and student groups, derives its support mainly from the middle class, the working poor, and youth. MIUCA is not allied with any other political party or movement as doing so would corrupt their ideals, according to Moreno. Campaign contributors are mainly donations from individual donors. ¶3. (SBU) Should incumbent president Fernandez be re-elected, Moreno highlights that even the mere perception of the use of state resources during this election campaign will be a serious threat to the legitimacy of the future administration. He believes the Government's "special payrolls CB," a payment to non-working party members constitutes vote buying (Reftel). The next Fernandez administration will be a "spent" administration, both literally and figuratively, when it takes office on August ¶16. The various electoral subsidies coupled with the U.S. economic downturn could produce an economic crisis that may result in less patronage benefits to hand out to supporters and minimal to no political support from those that did not vote for the PLD. ¶4. (SBU) Moreno is disillusioned with some institutions' unequal treatment of the political parties. He singled out the NGO Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS), highlighting it as an organization partially funded by USAID, for not allowing full participation of all candidates to its debates. He also criticized the local media in allowing the three major parties to have two days of campaign air time while MIUCA was only allowed one. Though the Central Electoral Board (JCE) more or less is complying with all the electoral processes, lack of funding and resources continually hamper their efforts. (Note: Moreno is married to a JCE magistrate, Aura Celeste Fernandez. Ironically, he did not comment on whether this was a conflict of interest. End Note.) ¶5. (SBU) Moreno argued that the GODR does not have a national policy to deal with increasing crime and insecurity. The GODR deals with the problem by getting rid of the symptoms, i.e. killing suspected and alleged criminals as highlighted by increasing media coverage of deaths due to "change of gunfire" with police. It would be better to address the root causes of crime such as misery, poverty, and lack of education and economic opportunity. In the last ten years, the casualties in the DR in these "exchanges of gunfire" are more than the total of U.S. casualties in Iraq, highlighting that the figures are comparable to casualties of a nation in civil war. The current GODR policy on economic development is misguided, and he emphasizes that the GODR needs to focus on increasing national production towards self-sufficiency instead of neo-liberal policies. ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: As the former District Attorney for the National District known for his commitment in fighting against corruption, Moreno's personal record backs up his party platform well. With accusations of corruption and patronage politics leveled in varying degrees at the three major political parties, MIUCA's denunciation of corruption and patronage politics is just another voice in the crowd. In an electorate that has become cynical and inured to corruption, we have no reason to believe that his campaign theme will resonate with the voters. Despite low poll numbers, Moreno's candidacy is taken seriously here by the pundit class and he receives a good deal of press attention. Given the entrenched nature of the patronage system in the political process, and the PLD's having brought much of the left under its own fold, it remains to be seen whether MIUCA's platform for change would snowball to more wide-spread support. END COMMENT. FANNIN