CEC CHAIR PROMISES AMBASSADOR COOPERATION ON MAY RERUN

UNCLAS BAKU 000236

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PGOV PREL AJ
SUBJECT: CEC CHAIR PROMISES AMBASSADOR COOPERATION ON MAY RERUN
ELECTIONS


SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On February 9 Ambassador called on Central
Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Mezahir Panahov to discuss
preparations for the May 13 reruns of ten parliamentary seats.
Ambassador addressed a wide area of reforms that could be
undertaken, most notably restricting local authorities from
exercising influence over the process and getting a fair vote
count on election night. Panahov agreed that there had been
problems in the November elections and promised cooperation.
However, he was also defensive about certain issues, particularly
those raised by the final OSCE ODIHR report such as the problems
with voter cards and the complaints procedure. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Ambassador called on newly-re-elected Central Election
Commission Chairman Mezahir Panahov on February 9 to discuss
preparations for the upcoming May 13 parliamentary rerun
elections. Ambassador ensured Panahov that the USG would retain
its high-level engagement in the next several months and asked
for his help in resolving key problems from the November
elections. Ambassador specifically highlighted local
authorities' (ExCom's) interference in the process and the
election night vote tabulation, saying that a crucial indicator
of political will would be to try a case and put at least one
official behind bars before May.


3. (SBU) Panahov agreed that authorities must be prevented from
exercising influence over the process and noted that President
Aliyev had already issued a warning. Coupled with the fact that
several members of election commissions had been jailed and
several ExComs had been fired, Panahov said he could already see
a change in mentality. He also said that it would be useful to
give the CEC more authority to dismiss individual constituency
election commission members. (Currently the CEC's authority is
very limited and only entire commissions can be dismissed).
Panahov urged Ambassador to remain engaged on this specific issue
and overall, saying that the USG must be prepared for the
election and must extend its full support to the CEC for Panahov
to be able to do his job. Ambasador promised his support, but
responded that it was ultimately the job of the GOAJ to run clean
elections.


4. (SBU) Ambassador also asked Panahov to consider changing the
structure of precinct election commissions (PECs) to represent
broader society. Currently, he said, the PECs are dominated by
teachers from the schools that house the polling stations. This
presents a problem on election day when the director of the
school then is either chair of the PEC or mills around to
"supervise." Ambassador said the PECs should be more
representative, but Panahov countered that teachers and
physicians are the most educated and most independent individuals
in the regions, and thus the current structure was optimal.
Panahov did indicate, however, that the May reruns would be
conducted by new election commissions formed in accordance with
the election code (septel).


5. (SBU) Panahov was also intransigent on the issue of military
voting. The transparency of PECs at military bases and access to
facilities for candidates was a commonly cited problem in
November. However, Panahov said he could do nothing about the
issue, as the numbers of soldiers and layouts of facilities
constituted state secrets, and thus no one could have access to
those details. Panahov said if he tried to force soldiers to
vote at civilian PECs or form military PECs with civilians, he
would be prosecuted for breaching national security.


6. (SBU) To further institutionalize finger inking, Ambassador
asked Panahov for his thoughts on adding finger inking to the
electoral code and removing the voter card requirement. Panahov
responded that he supported adding finger inking into the
election code, but said ODIHR has exaggerated the problem with
the voter cards. He said that the assessment of the voter cards
in ODIHR's report did not accord with reality, but that it was
used to push the GOAJ to implement finger inking. Panahov said
that it would be possible to continue using voter cards without
requiring their use. Panahov also criticized ODIHR's focus on
the complaints procedure, stating that the CEC had acted in
accordance with Venice Commission regulations. There was little
more he could do, he said. (Post's anecdotal evidence falls more
in line with ODIHR's assessment of both voter cards and the
complaints procedure.)

HARNISH