During the seventh meeting of politicians of the three leading political parties, delegates representing the Partido de la Liberaci?n Dominicana, Partido Revolucionario Dominicano and Partido and Partido Reformista Social Cristiano, meeting in the presence of President Leonel Fern?ndez, resolved to suggest the following to the Junta Central Electoral, the body in charge of organizing the 2000 presidential elections. 1. Appoint by consensus of the political parties participating in the talks the administrative officers of the JCE (elections director, director of the computer department, director of the civil registry department, director of the cedula department), following what is established in the Electoral Law. 2. Choose the members of the National District Junta Central Electoral and the Municipal Electoral Juntas by consensus of the political parties participating in the talks, following what is established in the Electoral Law. 3. That the Junta Central Electoral contract the services of a private company to expedite the issuing of the "cedula" or ID and voter’s card, to be supervised by the JCE and the political parties. Monsignor Agripino N??ez Collado, spokesman of the dialoguing politicians, also said that the politicians had agreed to back up the obtaining of these goals. It was also announced that the participants in the talks would motivate citizens to promptly secure their cedulas. The announcement is considered a major advancement in the talks, as the recognition of the present authorities of the JCE has been one of the major bottlenecks in the political scenario. Mainly, the PRSC has contested the new board of the JCE that was unilaterally elected by the PRD on grounds that several of the judges are militant PRD men. The PLD has known to side with the PRSC because the blessing of its leader, Dr. Joaqu?n Balaguer, may well mean the difference in who will win the 2000 presidential elections.
