President Leonel Fern?ndez yesterday sent a letter to PRD President Enmanuel Esquea Guerrero providing his response to PRD’s stated preconditions for entering into a political dialogue. Just the day before Esquea Guerrero had sent Fern?ndez a letter laying out PRD’s demands. In his own letter, President Fern?ndez called for PRD to suggest a date for initiating the dialogue and he rejected all three of PRD’s major demands. The PRD had sought a preset agenda; President Fern?ndez wants it to be open-ended. [It has been suggested that the President’s political party, the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), wants an open agenda so that it can raise the issue of the Central Election Board (JCE), something PRD would not agree to include in a set agenda.] The PRD had called for the creation of a commission of eminent persons ("notables") to run the Dominican Municipal League (LMD) instead of Senator Amable Aristy Castro [Reformist-Social Christian Party (PRSC) – Altagracia)] until the courts decide whether Aristy Castro or PRD’s Julio Mar??ez Rosario is the real LMD Secretary-General (SG). [Two parallel municipal assemblies were held on January 26th which elected Aristy Castro and Mar??ez Rosario as SG, both after making dubious rule changes.] President Fern?ndez said that it was not up to the President to make such a concession, since the LMD technically is not under his jurisdiction, and in any case, making such a concession would damage confidence in the courts to decide such disputes. PRD’s third major demand was that PRSC and PLD negotiate as one in the dialogue. President Fern?ndez did not reject this demand outright; he simply said PRSC should be included in the dialogue, which can be interpreted as meaning PRSC would be represented by itself, not PLD.Even before receiving Fern?ndez’s letter, Esquea Guerrero told reporters that PRD would hold firm to its demands before agreeing to dialogue.
