Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BEIRUT1147
2006-04-13 09:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Beirut
Cable title:  

MGLE01: QUARTERLY REPORT ON FREEDOM AGENDA

Tags:  KPAO KDEM KMPI PREL ECON LE 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0021
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLB #1147/01 1030958
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 130958Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3041
INFO RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 0453
C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT 001147 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ELA AND NEA/PI,
TUNIS FOR MEPI - MULREAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2016
TAGS: KPAO KDEM KMPI PREL ECON LE
SUBJECT: MGLE01: QUARTERLY REPORT ON FREEDOM AGENDA

REF: A. 05 STATE 152818

B. 05 BEIRUT 2208

C. BEIRUT 608

Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman for reason 1.4 (d).

INTRODUCTION
------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIRUT 001147

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ELA AND NEA/PI,
TUNIS FOR MEPI - MULREAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2016
TAGS: KPAO KDEM KMPI PREL ECON LE
SUBJECT: MGLE01: QUARTERLY REPORT ON FREEDOM AGENDA

REF: A. 05 STATE 152818

B. 05 BEIRUT 2208

C. BEIRUT 608

Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman for reason 1.4 (d).

INTRODUCTION
--------------


1. (C) This is post's progress report for the second quarter
of FY-06 on the Lebanon country strategy for democratic
reform. Refs A and B identified three outcomes for our
country strategy:

-- a new electoral law,

-- competent, effective, transparent government, and

-- reform of the judiciary.


2. (U) The last quarterly progress report submitted was Ref

C. Post's MEPI executive committee has since reviewed
progress made toward these three outcomes over the second
quarter of FY-06. Following are the main issues in each area.

A NEW ELECTORAL LAW
--------------


3. (SBU) This quarter saw delays in progress towards a new,
more equitable electoral law. The deadline for the national
commission charged with reforming the electoral law, already
extended in the previous quarter, was extended further as
members grappled over the politically charged issue of the
number, size, and shape of electoral districts.


4. (SBU) In early March, the commission's two Maronite
Christian members resigned, ostensibly because the other
commission members were considering proposing more than one
districting scheme in the final draft. In reality, there is
widespread anxiety in the Christian community that the draft
law's districting scheme would somehow disenfranchise
Christian voters. This was surely a factor in the two
commission members' resignations.


5. (SBU) Minister Siniora prevailed on the two resigned
members to re-join the commission on March 23, after
commission members reportedly committed themselves to
agreeing on a single districting scheme in the final draft of
the law. The cabinet has currently extended the mandate of
the commission until May 31. Christian communal sentiment
against anything but the smallest possible electoral

districts (so that most Christian MPs are elected by
Christian majorities, at least in theory) remains a
formidable barrier to anything that the commission produces.


6. (SBU) Funded by the DRL Bureau, IFES experts continued to
be available for specific research and analysis taskings from
individual Commission members. A visiting IFES team of
experts provided a detailed analysis of the draft law as it
stood in mid-March, pointing out that the draft was a good
one overall, but contained some problematic elements.


7. (SBU) IFES also continued to provide limited support
through a UN-organized technical secretariat. That technical
secretariat appeared increasingly irrelevant as commission

SIPDIS
members came to loggerheads over the districting issue. By
tightly controlling the commission's access to information
and expertise through the technical secretariat, the UN
appears in retrospect to have created, and then defended, a
void around the commission.


8. (SBU) The Embassy continued to coordinate closely with an
informal consortium of Lebanese and international NGOs (IFES,
NDI, Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA),Lebanese Center
for Policy Studies) in preparing for "phase two" of the
electoral reform process, which begins when the Commission
submits a proposed draft law and supporting documentation to
the Prime Minister, now presumably on May 31.


9. (SBU) The consortium's strategy for "phase two" will
focus on public awareness of electoral reform as a way of
building constituencies for change. LTA's MEPI-funded public
awareness project remained ongoing, but the lack of a final
draft law prevented LTA from conducting the "phase two"
element of its statement of work. The UN indicated that it
would play an even more "hands-off" role during "phase two."

COMPETENT, EFFECTIVE, TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT
--------------

10. (SBU) In the second quarter of FY-06, Prime Minister
Siniora chaired three cabinet sessions, during which most of
his ministers were briefed on his draft economic reform
program. Separately, Siniora also briefed economic
associations, the bankers' association, and selected
prominent economists. This is part of a process of briefing
all stakeholders, including labor organizations, in order to
obtain essential political "buy-in" for the program. A
special cabinet session to discuss the draft reform program
was scheduled for March 27, but postponed because of the Arab
League Summit.


11. (SBU) Specific MEPI and related programs and activities
aimed at this outcome during the quarter included a
preliminary visit by a staff delegation of the House
Democracy Assistance Commission, to explore possibilities for
the U.S. Congress to provide technical assistance to the
Lebanese Parliament. USAID continued to promote transparency
through "e-government" initiatives, which link municipal
databases with those of the central government. As a member
of the "Core Group" of friends of Lebanon, the United States
encouraged the Siniora government's development of an
economic reform plan that addresses much-needed
administrative reform measures.


12. (SBU) In response to a campaign of bombings and
assassinations aimed at destabilizing Lebanon and rolling
back its recent gains in sovereignty, post prepared to launch
a program to assist Lebanese law enforcement authorities in
forming "evidence response teams" using FBI trainers.

REFORM OF THE JUDICIARY
--------------


13. (SBU) Lebanon,s judiciary continued to suffer from a
widely perceived lack of independence from political pressure
during the quarter. On the bright side, the continued
presence of the UN International Independent Investigation
Commission (UNIIIC),charged with investigating the February
2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri,
gave the judiciary some much-needed &backbone8 in tackling
this sensitive issue.


14. (SBU) In his report of March 15, UNIIIC Commissioner
Serge Brammertz cited progress in the investigation, but
stressed that Syrian cooperation would be crucial to make
further headway. Four Lebanese senior security and
intelligence officials arrested at the recommendation of the
UNIIIC in August 2005 remained in detention for the duration
of the quarter.


15. (SBU) On March 29, the UN Security Council unanimously
adopted Resolution 1664, which calls for the establishment of
a tribunal of an international character to try those accused
in the Hariri case. Boutros Assaker, Acting
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and

SIPDIS
Emigrants, welcomed the adoption of the resolution and
pledged that the Lebanese government would spare no effort to
conclude negotiations on the matter as quickly as possible.


16. (SBU) Specific MEPI programs aimed at judicial reform
included an ongoing one-year project, conducted by a local
MEPI partner, on monitoring judicial sentences relevant to
human rights and democracy. Continued, unconditional U.S.
support for the UNIIIC also had the beneficial side effect of
strengthening judicial independence, since the UNIIIC
provided the judiciary with political cover it needed to
handle its responsibilities in the Hariri case.
FELTMAN