19-Member U.S. Observer Team for Philippine Election Named

The White House on Saturday named the 19-member U.S. observer delegation to the Feb. 7 presidential election in the Philippines. The bipartisan delegation includes members of Congress and private citizens.

Leading the group will be Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.).

Other members of the delegation are:

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.); Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.); Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.); Rep. Bernard J. Dwyer (D-N.J.); Rep. Samuel S. Stratton (D-N.Y.); and Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.); Fred Fielding, President Reagan’s counsel; Roman Catholic Bishop Adam J. Maida of Green Bay, Wis.; Allen Weinstein, president of the Center for Democracy; Adm. Robert Long, retired; Norma Paulus, former Oregon secretary of state; Jack Brier, Kansas secretary of state; Natalie Meyer, Colorado secretary of state; Larry Niksch, director of Asian affairs at the Congressional Research Service; Mortimer Zuckerman, publisher of U.S. News & World Report; Ben Wattenberg, American Enterprise Institute, and Van Smith, former president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The delegation plans to leave Tuesday for Manila and stay through the Friday election.

Sen. Lugar said that “our role is to support the democratic process.” He said the delegation cannot by itself ensure a fair election and its purpose is “not to put a seal of approval” on the results.

But an aide said the senator will feel free to give his “official conclusion” at a post-election news conference, after consulting with the members of the delegation on their findings.

The delegation will divide into smaller groups, which will tour polling places throughout the Philippines on election day and the regional vote-counting centers after the polls close at 3 p.m.