MGLE01: ELECTORAL REFORM COMMISSION MEMBER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 001239 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WERNER/SINGH LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KMPI SOCI PINR LE SY SUBJECT: MGLE01: ELECTORAL REFORM COMMISSION MEMBER FRUSTRATED BY SECTARIAN DIVIDE, ASKS FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Christopher W. Murray. Reason: Secti ons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Electoral commission member Abdel Salam Cheaib told Embassy officers that Lebanon has a rare chance to enact real, lasting reform, but warned that reform efforts will only succeed with long-term, stalwart support from the United States and the European Union. He acknowledged that Lebanese reformers, lead by Prime Minister Siniora, have an unprecedented opportunity to put Lebanon on the path towards transparency, stability, and sovereignty, but worried that the reform agenda -- including the work of his own electoral commission -- would come to naught if Lebanon is left to the mercies of the Syrian regime. Cheaib was ambiguous about the electoral commission's chances of coming to a consensus on districting issues, and bemoaned the depth of sectarian division in Lebanon. He said that internal sectarian divisions and Syrian interference have weakened the Lebanese state. He asked that the United States and EU put pressure on Patriarch Sfeir and other sectarian leaders, encouraging them to look past parochial interests towards a new, national electoral system. End summary. ELECTORAL ISSUES -------------- ¶2. (C) On April 18, emboffs met with Cheaib in his Beirut law office. Discussing the work of the national commission charged with reforming the electoral law -- of which he is a member -- Cheaib described a draft law that so far includes a proportional electoral system, an independent electoral commission, regulations on the use of media and campaign finance, a lowering of the voting age to 18, expatriate voting, and a quota for women on electoral lists. Districting remained the only outstanding issue, and Cheaib was cautious about the commission's ability to arrive at a consensus on it, or to finish the draft law by the revised deadline of May 29. "We'll try to finish by May 29. But we have to come to a consensus, and we'll keep working until we do. But this competition between the sects is much deeper than we thought," he said. SECTARIAN AND SYRIAN TENSIONS -------------- ¶3. (C) Cheaib expressed frustration with Lebanon's sectarian divisions and its susceptibility to foreign influence. "We cannot continue on this path. We must be a non-sectarian state, not a federation of communities like now. This cannot last," he said. He claimed to consider himself a Lebanese first, rather than a Sunni or a Muslim. He stressed that the commission was taking great pains to ensure effective Christian representation in a Parliament divided 50-50 between Christians and Muslims, despite the fact that Christians were now a minority of the population. He warned, however, that single-member districts would only balkanize Lebanon. (Comment: Cheaib was referring to widespread Christian unhappiness with the prospect of Muslim voters deciding which Christians are elected to Parliament, and the fact that single-member districts are the ideal solution for many Christians, including the Maronite Patriarch.) ¶4. (C) Cheaib said that three decades of Syrian domination had weakened Lebanon and exploited sectarian divisions at the expense of a unified Lebanese state. "We used to have a strong civil society before the war," he said. "We are close to the Syrian people, do not misunderstand me," he continued, "but their government does not recognize Lebanon (as a sovereign state.)" Now, after 15 years of civil war and another 15 years of Syrian domination, Lebanon's democratic institutions have been severely weakened, undermined by, among other things, massive corruption in the public sector. Cheaib also called attention to the plight of "disappeared" Lebanese citizens, many of whom he believed were in Syrian jails. THE NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT -------------- ¶5. (C) Cheaib asked for strong U.S. and EU support of Lebanon as it struggled to re-establish its independence and enact a difficult reform agenda. He said that, in the past, BEIRUT 00001239 002 OF 002 the Lebanese believed the United States had abandoned them to Syria. Many worried that the United States would yet "cut a deal" with Syria in return for concessions on Iraq. Even so, many Lebanese are starting to realize that this is a unique time in the history of U.S.-Lebanese relations, and that the United States is committed to a strong, long-lasting bilateral relationship, he said. ¶6. (C) Cheaib suggested that, without consistent support from the United States and the EU, Lebanon's reform agenda would fail. At the same time, however, the United States needs to avoid overshadowing Lebanon's reform agenda. It is important that reform be seen as consisting of genuinely Lebanese, as opposed to American, initiatives. Regarding electoral reform, he said that U.S. and EU representatives should meet privately with the Maronite Patriarch, the Sunni Mufti of the Republic, and other sectarian leaders, to emphasize the importance of the electoral commission's work. After the draft law goes to Parliament, he suggested that the Ambassador continue similar efforts with Lebanese parliamentarians. COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) In this, the Embassy's first meeting with Cheaib, he quickly established himself as one of the most thoughtful and open members of the electoral reform commission. He was extremely frank in his assessment of the difficulties that the commission faces, and he was eager to engage us on broader issues of U.S.-Lebanese relations and Lebanon's own struggle for sovereignty and reform. His description of the draft electoral law was consistent with what we have heard from other commission members. End comment. BIODATA -------------- ¶8. (U) Cheaib, a Sunni Muslim, has served on the faculty of law at the Lebanese University for forty years. He is also a long-time chairman of the Beirut Bar Association's commission on human rights. A native of Sidon, Cheaib is a friend and colleague of Prime Minister Siniora. MURRAY