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OAS and the Dominican Republic sign agreement for the Observation Mission for the presidencial elections of May 20

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the President of the Central Electoral Board of the Dominican Republic, Roberto Rosario Márquez, signed today at the headquarters of the OAS in Washington DC an agreement that stipulates the conditions for the work of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) that will observe the first round of the presidential election of May 20 and – in case it is necessary – the second round scheduled for June 30.

“It’s gratifying to put into motion the 15th Electoral Mission of the OAS in the Dominican Republic, during a year in which we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the electoral observations of the OAS,” said Secretary General Insulza, who announced that the Head of the Electoral Mission, former Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez, will make a preliminary visit to the country at the end of April.

The chief representative of the OAS highlighted the support given in the last two years by the hemispheric organization to the Dominican Republic, in both the Organic Electoral Law – which must be approved by the national legislature, - and in “the audits of the electoral circuit and the computer center.” In both cases, Insulza pointed out, the Dominican authorities cooperated with great “commitment and transparency.”

The agreement signed today will allow the free movement of the electoral observers, access to all areas of the organs that make up the electoral system and will guarantee the open access to the information required by the EOM of the OAS. In that context, “the OAS commits itself to carry out its functions of institutional accompaniment without diminishing the sovereignty of the state and the independence of its Central Electoral Board,” said Secretary General Insulza.

Magistrate Rosario Marquez said it is “a great pleasure” to have the presence of an EOM/OAS in the Dominican elections. He explained that the elections of May 20 “have the particularity that they will decide the offices of President and Vice President of the Republic and those of seven overseas deputies, who will be chosen from three constituencies, one corresponding to Europe, one to the Caribbean including Florida, and another that represents the United States and Canada.”

The signing ceremony was also attended by the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert Ramdin; the Chair of the Permanent Council and Representative of Honduras, Leonidas Rosa Bautista; and the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the OAS, Robert Bernardo Saladin Selin, among other authorities.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-122/12