HAITI: POLITICAL PARTIES MOVE TOWARD ELECTIONS PACT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000713

SIPDIS

SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
WHA ALSO FOR USOAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL HA
SUBJECT: HAITI: POLITICAL PARTIES MOVE TOWARD ELECTIONS PACT

Classified By: Ambassador James B. Foley, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary: With the help of a Norwegian-funded think
tank, Haitian political parties are negotiating a "code of
conduct" for participating in elections later this year. The
agreement under discussion would commit signatories to
approximately a dozen general guidelines covering campaign
"fair play," respect for the electoral law and for decisions
by the electoral council and judicial branch, and acceptance
of the results of the elections. The effort includes leaders
of all the major parties including Fanmi Lavalas, but it is
not a done deal yet and could still be derailed. If
successful, however, and particularly if FL leaders sign on,
this political pact would be a significant boost for the
election process and would achieve one of the initial goals
of the yet-to-be launched National Dialogue process. End
summary.


2. (U) The Norwegian-funded think tank ISPOS (Institute for
Political and Social Studies) organized a well-attended
gathering of political party leaders March 3-5 at the beach
resort of Moulin sur Mer. This second such "colloquium" (an
initial one was held in June 2004) focused on the challenges
facing parties in the upcoming election and on their role in
the national dialogue process. SRSG Valdes, PM Latortue,
Minister of Justice Gousse, and CEP member Freud Jean all
attended and made presentations. PolCounselor and poloff
attended, as did representatives from the French and Canadian
embassies and the Norwegian MFA. Discussions were spirited,
sometimes angry, but over the course of the three days the
colloquium produced a serious dialogue among political
adversaries the sort of that one rarely sees in Haiti.


3. (U) In the last panel of the last day, KID leader Evans
Paul, MOCHRENA leader Luc Mesadieu, and MIDH leader Marc
Bazin proposed different versions of an idea that most
leaders had supported in earlier discussions: a
concrete pact among political party leaders that would
encompass a "code of conduct" for the election season and a
"governability pact" to regulate the process of establishing
a new government after the elections. At the suggestion of
Fondation Nouvelle Haiti Executive Director Rosny Desroches,
seconded by popular acclamation among the participants, ISPOS
agreed to take the different ideas and develop them into a
draft accord that could be negotiated and finalized as a
follow-on to the seminar.


4. (C) In the ten days since, ISPOS director Garuedy Laguerre
has done just that, and party leaders are now reviewing a
12-point draft accord that Laguerre hopes could be finalized
in the near future. The accord is very general, committing
parties, among other things, to renounce the use of violence,
respect electoral laws, run clean campaigns, and accept the
results of the elections, and outlining a mechanism to
address those who violate the accord. Laguerre told
PolCounselor March 10 that he had vetted his initial draft
through the group of politicians who had participated in last
year's "Oslo meetings" (reftel) and made some changes based
on their feedback. He had received positive signals from
most of the Moulin sur Mer participants and was now working
to convince a "critical mass" of party leaders to sign on, in
hopes of launching the agreement publicly as early as
possible (his efforts have been complicated, regrettably, by
a bout of food poisoning).


5. (C) Not surprisingly, Lavalas is one of the most difficult
pieces of the puzzle, according to Laguerre and Norwegian MFA
official Kristen Langsholt (who has been the GON's point
person for Haiti and has remained in Haiti to work on the
initiative). Father Gerard Jean-Juste was one of the FL
representatives at the colloquium and made a very hard line
presentation, arguing that FL would boycott elections unless
Aristide were returned and several other conditions were met.
Other Lavalas members present took a more moderate line,
arguing that Lavalas should participate in the elections but
that conditions still needed to be improved. None of them
openly rejected the idea of the electoral pact, however, and
Laguerre believes he can convince at least some Lavalas
leaders to sign on. Jean-Juste told us March 10 that he was
reviewing the text and that "it was possible" he would sign,
along with others, for Fanmi Lavalas.


6. (C) In addition to the still-open question of Lavalas
participation, some of the parties who went on record last
month calling for Latortue's resignation have so far refused
to sign on to the political accord. In particular, Turneb
Delpe, whose party (PNDPH - National Democratic Progressive
Party) insists that elections should be postponed until a
"national sovereign conference" takes place on Haiti's
future, did not want to endorse anything related to elections
this year. Others tell us that they want the electoral
accord to go further than the current draft. MRN leader Jean
Henold Buteau, for example, said March 15 that the accord
needed to encompass more detailed obligations and a more
vigorous enforcement mechanism.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) The most encouraging thing about the proposed accord
is the fact that a constructive dialogue among politicians
with sharply diverging views is taking place at all. The
Norwegians have been quietly but effectively pushing such
dialogue for the past three years, bringing leaders from
across the political spectrum to Oslo for week-long visits
and funding training for party cadres through ISPOS. Because
of the respect they (and ISPOS) have garnered, they are able
to bring together the likes of Jean-Juste and other hard-line
FL partisans with conservatives such as MOCHRENA's Luc
Mesadieu. (The colloquium was even a forum for an impromptu
hour-long meeting between PM Latortue and Father Jean-Juste,
where according to one contact the two long-time Floridians
shared warm stories about their adopted state and argued over
"political prisoners.")


8. (C) This process is an effort to achieve quickly what most
actors here see as the first objective of the
yet-to-be-launched National Dialogue process: a political
pact in support of elections. (The second phase would be a
broader, grass-roots dialogue on Haiti's future that would
likely not start until after elections.) This is a positive
development and we are encouraging all sides to sign on to
the proposed electoral pact as an important step toward a
free and fair election. Precisely because it would be that,
of course, Lavalas hard-liners will have difficulty accepting
it. Unlike the April 4, 2004 Transition Accord that Lavalas
refused to sign because it "legitimized" the IGOH, in this
case Lavalas has been involved in the negotiating process
from the beginning. Jean-Juste himself, despite his
rhetoric, has given indications to some of our political
contacts that he is looking for a way to participate in the
electoral process. Given his close ties to Aristide, we do
not think it likely that he will sign on to the electoral
pact at this time, but we do not rule it out.
FOLEY