HAITI ELECTIONS: SUPPORT COMMITTEE MEMBERS RESIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 002792

SIPDIS

SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
WHA ALSO FOR USOAS
S/CRS FOR MICHELLE SCHIMP
TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2010
TAGS: PGOV PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITI ELECTIONS: SUPPORT COMMITTEE MEMBERS RESIGN

REF: PORT-AU-PRINCE 2774 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Douglas M. Griffiths for reasons
1.4(b).


1. (U) Citing "lack of support from the executive (branch),"
the six members of the electoral support committee submitted
a collective letter of resignation to the Interim Government
of Haiti (IGOH),the Council of Wise Persons, and the
Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) on November 4 and made
their resignation public on November 7. Prime Minister
Latortue had formed the committee on September 30 in an
effort to bolster the capacity of the CEP to organize the
coming elections. As noted in the letter of resignation, the
IGOH had never legally established the role or authority of
the support committee.


2. (C) Comment: Per reftels, post, along with the rest of
the Core Group and many informed Haitians, opposed the
formation of the support committee from the start and
subsequently argued for its dissolution. Ostensibly created
to improve the performance of the nine-member CEP, the
addition of yet another committee on top only worsened the
already dysfunctional electoral structure. The members'
resignation is a welcome decision, effectively undoing the
Prime Minister's original mistake. Their lengthy resignation
letter is an attempt to absolve themselves of any
responsibility for an eventual failure of the electoral
process while laying any blame on the PM's doorstep.

CARNEY