AZERBAIJAN'S RERUN ELECTIONS: CAMPAIGN QUIET,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000701 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2016 TAGS: PHUM KDEM PGOV PREL AJ SUBJECT: AZERBAIJAN'S RERUN ELECTIONS: CAMPAIGN QUIET, ELECTION DAY KEY Classified By: CDA JASON HYLAND FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: During a May 10 briefing, ODIHR Election Observation Head of Mission Geert Aherns reported that the campaign period for ten parliamentary rerun elections to be held on May 13 appeared to be proceeding fairly well, in comparison with the November election. ODIHR,s assessment corresponds with what we have seen over the past two months. Campaigns have remained low-key, and reports of Government interference in the process appear to be low. ODIHR remains frustrated that neither election commissions nor candidates appear to be following prescribed procedures for handling complaints. We have repeatedly urged the GOAJ at the highest levels to conduct free and fair elections, most recently in the Charge's May 8 call on CEC Chairman Panahov. We have also been engaged through an active public diplomacy campaign and through training of candidates, observers, and election commission officials. The true test will be on election day, and in particular the vote count, which was the weakest link on November 6. Domestic observers promise to be out in droves (more than 5,000 observers are registered for a mere 343 polling stations) and Post will coordinate and communicate both with other international community observers and domestic observer organizations. END SUMMARY. CAMPAIGNS ACTIVE, BUT LOW-KEY -------------- ¶2. (SBU) According to ODIHR and Central Election Commission (CEC) reports, a total of 125 candidates remain, down from the 158 who had been initially registered. 78 candidates are independents and 47 are members of parties, although only nine candidates were actually nominated by their respective parties (the rest were self-nominated). In a May 10 briefing, ODIHR Head of Mission Ambassador Geert Ahrens said that in his own opinion, the election campaign appeared to be proceeding better than in the fall, mostly because no parties had applied for mass demonstrations. (GOAJ restrictions on freedom of assembly were one of the major pitfalls of the 2005 campaign.) According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, candidates throughout the country have held around 1500 meetings with voters, most by independent candidates. ¶3. (SBU) Ahrens categorized the campaign as low key, but said that many candidates are campaigning actively. Most local government authorities had allocated sites for posters and from the anecdotal evidence compiled by the core team, most shopkeepers are allowed to post whichever candidate poster they choose. Ahrens remarked that in particular, campaigns in Zaqatala and Tovuz had been lively. (Prominent opposition leaders are running in both of these districts -- Musavat's Arif Hajili in Zaqatala and Justice Party founder Ilyas Ismayilov in Tovuz.) MEDIA SCENE QUIET -------------- ¶4. (SBU) ODIHR does not have a media expert on its staff this time but is carefully watching news coverage of the election. ODIHR reported that the members of the Central Election Commission have been giving weekly interviews to public television and there is sporadic nationwide news coverage of events. Candidates are also buying time on regional TV stations, although rates vary widely and overall are relatively high in comparison with normal rates for buying advertisement time. Unlike the November 2005 election period, parties and candidates are not allowed free airtime on national TV because the electoral code prohibits candidates for regional elections from obtaining free airtime on national channels. OFFICIAL INTERFERENCE DIFFICULT TO ASSESS -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Ahrens reported that the extent of local authorities' interference into the campaign, including use of administrative resources to help out "favored" candidates, is difficult to assess. (Local government interference in the campaign was another major problem in the 2005 campaign.) Local government officials all assure the ODIHR team they are not interfering, and report that President Aliyev has reiterated his instructions from the 2005 elections not to interfere, including through personal phone calls to local officials. However, opposition candidates in most constituencies have complained about interference to help out "favored" candidates. The "favored" candidates are alleged to be both ruling party and independent candidates, depending on the race. ¶6. (SBU) The ODIHR mission relayed that in Jalilabad constituency 69, candidates and election commission officials BAKU 00000701 002 OF 002 confirmed that a "pyramid scheme" had been deployed, purportedly to boost voter turnout in the region. Opposition candidates, however, maintained that the network was devised to ensure voters knew which candidate was the GOAJ's "favored" candidate. On May 10, apparently, the alleged original "favored" candidate called ODIHR, together with some of his colleagues, to complain that the network was being used to promote a different candidate now. ODIHR officials said they suspect the same scheme is being used elsewhere, but they have no firm evidence that the tactic is being used to illegal means. ODIHR also noted that in the Aghdam constituency, an IDP district that abuts the Line of Contact, authorities allegedly have threatened to cut allowances to the IDP population if the "wrong" candidate wins the seat. ¶7. (C) In a May 8 meeting, the Charge urged Central Election Commission Chairman Mezahir Panahov to ensure the May 13 rerun elections were conducted in a fair and transparent manner. Panahov said that following GOAJ actions to punish fraud in the November elections, local government authorities feel "threatened" and understand that interference into the campaign is a serious issue. They now understand that they will be punished if they take such actions. Panahov said that the CEC was concerned about races in Zaqatala and Sumgayit and would watch both carefully. COMPLAINTS PROCESS UNRESOLVED -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Several members of the ODIHR team expressed frustration that the authorities did not seem to be taking steps to improve the elections complaints process, roundly criticized, since November. They said, however, that opposition candidates also have not followed the complaint procedure as spelled out in the election code. Candidates have preferred to file oral complaints and often appeal above the constituency level. (All complaints should be lodged with the constituency first). Yet, the ODIHR team noted that election commissions routinely failed to act on complaints filed, likely explaining why candidates choose to circumvent the prescribed process. As of May 5, ODIHR said the CEC reported it had received 73 complaints and constituency election commissions (ConEcs) had received 65. Most of the complaints reportedly pertained to official interference, candidates bribing voters, and the composition or actions of election commissions. The CEC, however, had only taken official decisions on 21 of those 73 complaints. ConEcs apparently had ruled officially on only 18 complaints. Ahrens noted that overall, it was difficult to assess to what extent the complaints process failed due to incompetence (on both sides) or more direct motives to hijack the process. MASSIVE DOMESTIC OBSERVER PRESENCE LIKELY -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Domestic observer interest is high again, with over 5,000 observers registered by the CEC and ConEcs. (There are 343 polling stations between the ten constituencies). Only 103 international observers were registered, with the CIS observer mission coming in with the highest figure of 29. Locally, only the British, Norwegian, and US embassies will be deploying observers on election day. Post will deploy ten election observation teams to cover every constituency on election day and will coordinate closely with the British and Norwegian embassies. (Neither the British Embassy nor Post will cover the territory of Aghdam, but will cover IDP polling stations for this district in Baku and Zaqatala). COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (SBU) We have remained actively engaged in the election process to ensure the reruns are conducted in a free and fair manner. We have urged the GOAJ at the highest levels and in regular meetings with the CEC to ensure the process is transparent and that those who commit fraud are punished accordingly. We have also undertaken an active public diplomacy campaign to inform voters of our support for democratization and encourage their participation in the process. Programatically USAID partner organizations have trained observers, candidates, and election commission officials, and IRI will be conducting an exit poll on election day. We will deploy USG observers on election day, in coordination with the international community, and carefully watch the conduct of the balloting and the vote count. We will report septel on May 13 and afterward on the overall assessment of the rerun elections. HYLAND