Leading representatives of the Partido de la Liberación Dominicana, the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano and the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano met yesterday with the judges and technicians of the Junta Central Electoral, the body in charge of organizing the presidential election in the DR. Dr. Manuel Ramón Morel Cerda, president of the JCE, said that the parties agreed to support the JCE so that the election can be held successfully next year. The presidential election is scheduled for 16 May 2000. He explained that the parties agreed to meet again before 31 December, as well as to lobby before the Executive Branch so that it restore the RD$152 million that was cut from the RD$552 million National Budget allotment requested by the JCE to organize the election. The politicians, who included the presidential candidates for the PLD and the PRD, plus top-ranking party directors, met for four hours at the JCE. Dr. Morel Cerda said that the politicians discussed the advances in the process through 5 December, the hiring of Price Waterhouse Coopers to complete the process of issuing the voting and identification cards, the Y2K project, the preparation of an error-free photographic voting list, and the implementation of the electoral informatics system. He also announced the hiring of Opitel to provide information by telephone to voters regarding the status of their ID/voting card. At the end of the meeting, Monsignor Agripino Núñez Collado, who presides the national committee designated to follow up the organization of the election, said the meeting was positive for Dominican democracy. He said that once again politicians prove they can talk things out with respect and seek solutions to the nation’s problems.
