In his talk on Tribuna Democr\u00e1tica, Jos\u00e9 Francisco Pe\u00f1a G\u00f3mez also had strong words against the PLD for taking up the racist campaign tactics used by the PRSC in the last election. “For us it is inconceivable that a party so committed to the democratic struggle of the country, as is the Liberaci\u00f3n Dominicana, presided over by a leader of noble foreign descent, has surpassed the Partido Reformista in this campaign, and has become the principal spokesman for racism against Dominican blacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
He was referring to Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez, presidential candidate for the PLD, alleging that several foreigners (namely Haitians) have been provided with voters’ cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez said on Tuesday that a large number of Haitians are included in the list of voters that the JCE is using for the election. Jose Francisco Pe\u00f1a G\u00f3mez says that the statement seeks to create an electoral crisis. On the following day, the president of the JCE, Cesar Estrella Sahdal\u00e1 said his organization has the mechanisms to determine who is a foreigner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez called for a fair review to exclude these people. He said that no foreigner has the right to vote on Dominican territory and requested that the votes made by those people be annulled. He said that the party requested the JCE to take action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
“We carried out a sampling in a specific region of the country and discovered that 25% of those with cedulas were foreigners,” said Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez. If you project that on to a national level it is matter for concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Dr Pe\u00f1a G\u00f3mez replied that Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez’s allegation is for the purpose of preparing the conditions for a new post electoral crisis. He accused the PLD of developing a dirty campaign. He said that the PLD plans to say the PRD won by employing fraud, and asked the president of the JCE, Dr C\u00e9sar Estrella Sahdal\u00e1 to look into the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
The PLD denied that it is carrying out a racist campaign to harm the candidature of Jos\u00e9 Francisco Pe\u00f1a G\u00f3mez. The PLDs Secretary General, Lidio Cadet, said that it will present proof of the small sampling of the voting list where it determined more than 1,000 voters were foreigners. He said that the PRD with their slogan of “Pe\u00f1a o Le\u00f1a” is the one that is creating a climate of uneasiness in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
He said that it is a calumny to say that the PLD seeks to exclude black people from voting, as that organization is comprised of “morenos” or black people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
The JCE in an advertisement published in the daily press on 4 May stated that the parties were given several opportunities to request investigations of the voting list, starting in August 1995 when they were given the first draft, and then on 14 December, and 8 April, and there is no longer any time to make corrections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Cesar Estrella Sahdal\u00e1, president of the JCE, said that if a delegate of a party feels that a voter is a foreigner, but that the person’s cedula demonstrates the contrary, all he can do is request that the person’s vote be observed, or put aside for later review. People caught in a situation of that sort have two choices: to vote with the observation or not to vote at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Presidential candidate Jacinto Peynado, had praised the work carried out by the JCE. He said that the Dominican people trust the purging of the voting list and that there was a serious effort made to come up with a fairly accurate version.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In his talk on Tribuna Democr\u00e1tica, Jos\u00e9 Francisco Pe\u00f1a G\u00f3mez also had strong words against the PLD for taking up the racist campaign tactics used by the PRSC in the last election. “For us it is inconceivable that a party so committed to the democratic struggle of the country, as is the Liberaci\u00f3n Dominicana, presided … <\/p>\n