Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez, Archbishop of Santo Domingo and head of the Roman Catholic Church in the DR, described as "slow and difficult" the negotiations towards an end to the differences among political parties and the Executive Branch. Cardinal López Rodríguez is serving as arbiter to get the political forces talking to each other. A first round of negotiations and conversations recently took place. The differences revolve primarily over the constitution of the Junta Central Electoral, the government body in charge of organizing the presidential, municipal and congressional elections. Recently the Senate, where the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano is majority, unilaterally elected the new board of the JCE, without consulting the other political parties.
