Page 82 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud
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The third member of the Board was Félix Dormoi, M.D., president of the
Medical Specialists at Santo Tomás Hospital. Dormoi was known as an active union
leader with no partisan affiliation. A few months before the elections he had written an
open letter to the Electoral Tribunal suggesting that international observers be invited
to go to Panama to ensure honest elections. This concern over truly democratic
elections would later lead Dormoi to resign his position in a surprise move. “I cannot
countenance with my signature”, Dormoi wrote in a candid open letter dated May 10,
“the results to appear in this Board’s official tally sheet. To do so would run contrary
to the dictates of my conscience and that of a people who believe that its will, as
expressed in the ballot box, would be respected”. The complete text of this document
is to be found in exhibit 20.
The last original member of the National Returns Board appointed by the
Electoral Court was Mrs. Raquel M. Fernández V., who was Dormoi’s alternate.
Fernández was a real estate broker by profession; she had no known political history.
Together with Gadeloff, she wrote a letter to Presiding Judge Quintero, published by
La Prensa on page 13A on May 25. “This letter ends the irregularities committed
during the deliberations of the National Returns Board. Our consciences would not
forgive us”. (See exhibit 21).
There was something very rotten in the most important electoral body of the
land. Its third member resigned claiming that “the people’s will, as expressed in the
ballot box”, had been ignored. In addition, two other members wrote a letter to the
Electoral Tribunal presiding justice denouncing in no uncertain terms what they termed
“irregularities” and abuses of power.
What did actually happen at the National Return Board at the time of the 1984
elections?
The first point to address must be Dormoi’s resignation and the appointment
of Simón Tejeira to replace him. The arbitrary actions surrounding this incident clearly
show the pro-Barletta bias of the National Returns Board.
Article 141 of the Electoral Code states: “The offices of chairman, secretary
and member of the National Returns Board must be mandatorily accepted. They may
be declined only by reason of physical disability, legal impediment or the need to leave
the country indefinitely or urgently”. Therefore, the Board was bound by law to reject
his resignations, since the reasons he alleged were not envisaged by law. On the other
hand, however, the Board could hardly force Dormoi to stay in office against his will.
So, it was decided that he would step down and be replaced by his alternate, Fernández.
It so happened, however, that both Fernández and Gadeloff had exhibited admirable
fairness in their jobs, and, at this advanced stage of the game, the regime was not about
to run the risk of having an impartial person serve as the third member of the Board.
Therefore, they accepted Dormoi’s resignation and appointed Tejeira –and not his
alternate– as the new third member of the highest electoral body in the country. In so
doing, they violated three articles of the Electoral Code, namely: Article 141, quoted