US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO3228

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 003228 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR WHA, WHA/CAR,INR; 
NSC FOR SHANNON USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD;TREASURY FOR 
OASIA-MAUREEN WAFER; USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN 
BASIN DIVISION 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS ITURREGUI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, DR, Dominican Politics 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN POLITICS #29: OPPOSITION PRD PICKS NEW 
LEADERSHIP 
 
1. (SBU)  This is #29 in our series of reports on political 
events of Leonel Fernandez's first year in office. 
 
PRD Picks New President, Secretary General, and other 
Leadership Posts 
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- - - - - - - - 
 
The main opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) is 
still counting votes from the June 12 poll and sorting out 
logistical glitches and accusations of direct election of 
party officers, open to all 1.2 million PRD fraud.  Voting 
took place nationwide 8convention8 (balloting) this past 
weekend..  In the race for party president, prominent Senator 
Ramon Alburquerque from the interior province of Monte Plata 
holds a widening lead over former Attorney General Virgilio 
Bello Rosa.  Orlando Jorge Mera, former president of the 
telecommunications agency (INDOTEL) and son of former 
Dominican President Salvador Jorge Blanco, is virtually 
assured of becoming the next PRD secretary general.  Senator 
(and PRD spokesman in the Senate) Anbal Garca Duverge is 
convincingly ahead in the race for secretary of organization. 
 
The voting at most of the 3100 party polling sites nationwide 
appeared to be orderly and turnout was high.  Voting had to 
be postponed in eight localities, including populous 
districts of the capital and of the second city, Santiago. 
Logistical problems delayed balloting in some places. 
Overall the initial impression was positive: a mass party 
organization was renewing itself in an orderly way, 
recovering from Hiplito Mejia,s electoral rout in 2004. 
 
Second-running candidate Virgilio Bello Rosa cast the only 
shadow across this picture.  On June 13 he charged that 
persons linked to front-runner Alburquerque had committed 
electoral fraud in at least eight localities.  Alburquerque 
promptly disavowed any such schemes. On June 14 when Bello 
Rosa formally accused  Senator Alejandro Santos (PRD. 
Salcedo) and congressional representative Cristin 
Encarnacin (prd, Los Alcarrizos) of theft, alteration, and 
destruction of ballots in their communities.  The organizing 
committee referred the charges to the PRD,s disciplinary 
committee for action and launched inquiries in the other 
localities. 
 
Party leaders believed going into the &convention8 that a 
show of unity and orderly democratic procedure would be a 
crucial test of the party,s recovery from the factional 
rifts.  A test of this hypothesis will be the handling of 
Bello Rosa,s accusations.  The organizing committee has made 
a good start.  The accused Senator Santos chairs the Senate 
committee considering CAFTA ratification and has been 
building a reputation as one of the PRD,s promising younger 
legislators.  Alburquerque, with three terms as Senate 
president and 15 years, experience in the chamber, has 
publicly criticized Bello Rosa for &staining8 the electoral 
process.   The squabble could escalate if not managed 
adroitly.  And results are still pending from the voting for 
21 PRD vice presidents and 21 vice secretaries general. 
 
According to the PRD organizing committee,s bulletins as of 
June 15, with 30 percent of the votes counted, Alburquerque 
led Bello Rosa by 38 percent to 33 percent ; third-ranked 
Emmanul Esquea was early in acknowledging defeat.  Only a 
plurality ) not a majority ) is needed to win. 
 
Orlando Jorge Mera had a commanding 61 percent  majority for 
Secretary General over former presidential legal adviser 
 
SIPDIS 
Guido Gomez Mazara at 22 percent.  Garcia Duverge had 43 
percent vs. 28 percent  for Geanilda Vasquez in the race for 
Secretary of Organizations. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
Final results ratified by the organizing committee go to a 
congress of PRD delegates on July 5 to be approved as 
official and forwarded to the Central Election Board (JCE). 
The delay between voting and approval was planned to allow 
for resolution of any questions or disputes; depending on the 
ongoing committee investigations, the fraud allegations might 
not be laid to rest before that date. 
 
Over the rest of this month other elected party posts will be 
determined  ) nearly 9,000 positions at national level and 
some 42,000 at provincial, municipal, regional, and zonal 
levels of the PRD organization.  More than 75,000 candidates 
competed in the election, not only in the Dominican Republic 
but in several other countries where Dominicans reside. 
According to local press, Dr. Frank Madera, described as a 
&young professional,8 leads the race for federal president 
of the PRD in the United States. 
 
The outcome so far shows the PRD establishment still in 
control, while leaving the door open to needed reforms. 
Although Mejia did not publicly support any candidate, one of 
his advisers told the Embassy that Mejia quietly swung his 
weight behind Alburquerque, urging PRD mayors to endorse the 
senator and influence the mass of PRD members at local level. 
 This was in gratitude for Alburquerque,s vigorous 
participation in Mejia,s reelection campaign last year, in 
contrast to the attitudes of other contenders for the party 
leadership.  Bello Rosa  resigned as Attorney General in 2002 
over differences with Mejia and was reportedly backed by 
Mejia,s rivals in the PRD. 
 
Jorge Mera is the heir apparent of the Jorge political 
dynasty.  He served in the Mejia administration but is not 
closely identified with the Mejia faction of the PRD.  Unlike 
his father, the president from 1982-1986 who spent years in 
prison, convicted of corruption after leaving office, Jorge 
Mera talks and writes in his frequent op-ed columns about 
reforming party and government structures and combating 
corruption.  He will replace current secretary general Rafael 
&Fello8 Suberv, renowned for corruption when he was mayor 
of Santo Domingo in the 1980s.  Mild-mannered and 
uncharismatic, Jorge Mera was nonetheless the overwhelming 
choice of the party establishment over his only serious 
adversary  Guido Gomez Mazara, widely viewed as corrupt, 
linked to organized crime and disliked for his high-handed 
manner as legal counsel to Meja. 
 
Mejia himself remains influential in PRD circles but no 
longer dominates. 
 
Alburquerque has a firm base in the Senate, where 28 of 32 
members belong to his party, and in the lower house where the 
PRD has a plurality.  He has run twice for the PRD 
presidential nomination, in 2000 and 2004.  He is certain to 
work more smoothly with the congressional leadership than 
current party Vicente Sanchez Baret, whose inept handling of 
PRD legislators led to a complete breakdown in relations. 
With Alburquerque the PRD may mount a more disciplined and 
constructive opposition to the PLD administration of 
President Fernandez. 
 
2.  (U) Drafted by Bainbridge Cowell 
 
3. (U)  This piece and others in our series can be consulted 
at our SIPRNET site 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodomingo/  
along with extensive other material. 
Hertell