US embassy cable - 04SANTODOMINGO473

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 
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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 
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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 
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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