To the beat of pan-banging (cacerolazos) by university students, the National Business Council-backed political crisis dialogue was suspended on Wednesday, 4 March 2020 afternoon. University students protested outside the meeting hall. Young people groups demand to be included in the talks and that these be televised. The political crisis surged after the municipal election was aborted on 16 February. The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has yet to give a clear explanation as to what caused the e-voting glitch.
The media reports on the last minute decision of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) to not stay for the talks that had already been rejected by the People’s Force political party (Leonel Fernández) and Alianza Pais minority party.
On Tuesday, 3 March, the National Business Council (Conep) had confirmed the start of dialogue, leaving a reserved chair for former President Leonel Fernández.
Legendary mediator Agripino Núñez Collado, now retired from his long-time position as rector of the Pontifical Catholic Madre y Maestra University (PUCMM), was entrusted to lead mediation among political parties in this electoral year, in his role as president of the Economic and Social Council (CES). The talks have the support of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD).
Former President Leonel Fernández, who leads the People’s Force (FP) political party, had on Monday, 2 March rejected the mediation of CES. “The Economic and Social Council, which the government aspires to organize and conduct the dialogue to solve the political and institutional crisis caused by the failed electoral fraud attempt of 16 February, is a advisory body of the Executive Branch, attached to the Ministry of the Presidency and coordinated with other ministries. Therefore, being a government body, it is also politically disqualified from serving as an organizer of the aforementioned national dialogue,” argued Fernández in a televised speech on Tuesday, 3 March 2020.
Pedro Brache, president of the National Business Council, had announced the mediation effort of the CES and Agripino Núñez Collado on Tuesday, 3 March 2020. “A dialogue is that, a dialogue, where people go and say whether they agree or disagree, and it can be done anywhere…His (Fernandez’s) chair will be available for whenever he wants to go, he will always have his place,” said Brache upon making the announcement.
Present for the meeting on Wednesday, 4 March were:
Monsignor Agripino Núñez Collado, the president of the Conep, Pedro Brache; the president of the Dominican Association of Public School Teachers (ADP), Xiomara Guante; Administrative Minister of the Presidency José Ramón Peralta; Interior & Police Minister Ramón (Monchy) Fadul who is the PLD delegate at the JCE; the executive vice president of the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE), Rubén Jiménez Bichara, who is also the campaign manager for PLD presidential candidate Gonzalo Castillo; Tourism Minister Francisco Javier García and the president of the Senate, Reinaldo Pared Pérez, who is also the secretary general of the PLD.
Also present for the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), a strong ally to the government party, was Foreign Minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado, Deputy Foreign Minister Peggy Cabral and Women Minister Janet Camilo.
Representatives of the leading opposition party, the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) showed at the PUCCMM to participate in the talks under the CES. Present for the meeting on Wednesday, were the PRM delegate to the JCE, Orlando Jorge Mera and Roberto Furcal. Nevertheless, press reports indicate the talks stagnated when the PRM decided not to participate after all. As reported, the PRM protested the inclusion of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) in the talks. The PRD has been a strong ally to the Medina government. The party is backing PLD candidate Gonzalo Castillo for president in the presidential election and yet does not have a candidate in the municipal election.
Late on Wednesday, the Economic and Social Council (CES) sent letters convening a meeting for Thursday, 9am to discuss the electoral situation of the country after the suspension of the municipal election on 16 February. The letters reportedly were sent to the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), the People’s Force (FP), Country Alliance (AlPais), Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) and the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC). The meeting again would be held at the PUCMM campus on Av. Abraham Lincoln.
Participación Ciudadana has requested inclusion as an observer in the talks.
Sociologist Olaya Dotel, speaking on the La Cuestión radio talk show on La Super 7, said the naming of the CES to mediate the political crisis is another indication the Medina administration is not in tune with how politics have changed in the country.
Núñez Collado as of January 2017 presided over a special commission named by President Danilo Medina to review government contracting for the Punta Catalina coal-fired power plant once the Odebrecht US$92 million bribes scandal broke to the open in a New York City court in December 2016. The commission cleared the power plant.
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El Dia
5 March 2020