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C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 000049 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/04 
TAGS: PGOV PREL DR
SUBJECT: EX-PRESIDENT HIPOLITO MEJIA ON THE OPPOSITION PRD AND THE 
UPCOMING CONGRESSIONAL/MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS 
 
REF: A) 09 SANTO DOMINGO 1174; B) 09 SANTO DOMINGO 566 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Alex Margulies, Pol-Econ Counselor, Department of 
State, Embassy Santo Domingo; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  Former President Hipolito Mejia (2000-2004), in 
a 2 Feb 2010 meeting with Pol-Econ Counselor and Polchief, 
criticized opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) President 
Miguel Vargas Maldonado for trying to run the party as if it were a 
business; discounted the possibility that challenges to the victory 
by Vargas loyalists in last year's PRD Convention would prosper; 
predicted that the Dominican Government's (GoDR) corruption and 
lack of transparency would be major campaign issues for the PRD, 
along with unemployment and narcotrafficking; and said that he 
would actively campaign for PRD candidates in the upcoming campaign 
for congressional/municipal elections.  Mejia praised the Central 
Electoral Board for insisting that all parties respect the legal 
requirement to run women for at least one-third of the candidates 
at each level, thought that the ruling Dominican Liberation Party 
(PLD) would be better off without its Social Christian Reformist 
Party (PRSC) allies, and opined that Danilo Medina (who Mejia 
defeated for the Presidency in 2000), would again be the PLD 
candidate in 2012.  Mejia hinted that he may also be thinking of a 
2012 run, as after the May elections he intends to embark on a 
campaign to improve his own political image.   End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C)  In a wide-ranging hour-long meeting with Pol-Econ 
Counselor and Polchief on 2 Feb 2010, former President Mejia, who 
currently heads a minority PRD faction, made the following points: 
 
n  DOMINICAN REVOLUTIONARY PARTY:  Party President Miguel Vargas 
Maldonado is inexperienced politically and makes the mistake of 
thinking that he can run the party like he does one of his 
businesses.  This will rebound against him, as the PRD is a 
democratic party and has been since its founding in 1935.  Vargas 
may be riding high at the moment, but is building up trouble for 
the future.  That said, the challenges to last year's internal 
party leadership election at the PRD Convention by dissident PRD 
stalwarts Guido Gomez Mazara and Tony Pena Guaba  (Ref A) will 
probably be rejected by the Central Electoral Board (JCE), whose 
decision is final and must be respected (Note:  The JCE rejected 
the challenges on 3 Feb 2010).  Vargas' political naivetC) led him 
to enter into a political pact with President Leonel Fernandez, 
resulting in the new Constitution (Ref B).  While Vargas now 
recognizes he made a mistake, he has no choice but to live with it 
and move on. 
 
n  THE CONGRESSIONAL/MUNICIPAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN:  The PRD will 
carry out a civil but highly critical campaign in the 16 May 2010 
elections, targeting the Fernandez government's corruption, lack of 
transparency, and failure to deal with unemployment and 
narcotrafficking.  That said, most voters will be heavily 
influenced by local issues and the reputation of the respective 
candidates each party offers.  Consequently, the party needs to put 
forward candidates with strong local followings and it is a mistake 
on Vargas' part to nominate loyalists like PRD Secretary 
General-elect Orlando Jorge Mera as senatorial candidates in 
important provinces like Santiago, where they have no firm roots. 
The PRD will rely heavily on national campaigning by those of its 
candidates with sterling reputations, such as Santo Domingo 
senatorial candidate Milagros Ortiz Bosch (Mejia's Vice President 
from 2000-2004 and niece of party co-founder Juan Bosch).  Mejia 
himself joined with Vargas and other faction leaders in convincing 
Ortiz to run, noting that her major concern was obtaining 
sufficient financial support for her campaign as "she has no 
money;" the PRD leaders assured her that adequate funding would be 
provided. 
 
n  THE CENTRAL ELECTORAL BOARD (JCE):  The JCE is a strong 
institution and should carry out free and fair elections.  It 
showed its mettle and did the right thing with its recent decision 
to reject a joint request from the PLD and PRD to relax the 
 
 
requirement that women occupy at least one-third of the candidacies 
at all levels.  "That is the law," he thundered, "and it must be 
enforced." 
 
n  THE PLD/PRSC ALLIANCE:  The PLD would be better off jettisoning 
its PRSC partner, which has at most four percent of the electorate 
and is fading away, although it does have a few excellent members, 
such as party president (and Foreign Minister) Carlos Morales 
Troncoso and National Deputy Ito Bisono.  The PRD was allied to the 
PRSC in the past and found it to be, "a disaster."  (COMMENT: 
While the detailed negotiations are not yet finalized, it looks 
like the PLD/PRSC alliance will be maintained for the 2010 
elections.  END COMMENT).  Danilo Medina is the front-runner for 
the PLD presidential nomination in 2012, but the possibility that 
Fernandez might try to place his wife, Margarita Cedeno de 
Fernandez, as head of the PLD ticket, should not be discounted. 
 
n  POLITICAL PARTY LAW:  Congress will likely pass this law this 
year, although this may not occur until after the 
congressional/municipal elections.  The law will improve democratic 
practices within parties, thereby preventing leaders such as Vargas 
from treating their party like their own business, and decrease the 
possibilities for the ruling party to use government resources to 
further its candidates' campaigns. 
 
n  MEJIA'S FUTURE:  The former President will campaign nationwide 
for PRD candidates.  Following the election he will embark on a 
personal campaign to defend his personal image, noting that a 
recent poll he commissioned showed that the popular perception was 
that he was responsible for the 2003 banking frauds and resulting 
economic crisis.  While the frauds occurred on his watch, he will 
emphasize that the bankers implicated were all arrested and put on 
trial by his government. 
 
¶3.  (C)  COMMENT:  Mejia, after sparring publicly with Vargas over 
the past year over internal PRD issues (privately they reportedly 
get along; Mejia's son is married to Vargas' sister), is putting 
their party feud aside in order to show a combined front in support 
of PRD candidates during the election campaign.  His planned 
campaign to vindicate his image hints that he may be exploring 
running again for the presidency in 2012.  In a separate meeting 
with Polchief on   1 Feb 2010, Milagros Ortiz Bosch agreed with 
Mejia that the Political Party Law would be delayed until after the 
11 May 2010 elections and that quotas for women were essential to 
building institutional support for female candidates.  END COMMENT. 
Lambert