MGLE01: ELECTORAL REFORM COMMISSION RESIGNEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 000899 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/WERNER/SINGH DEPT FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/PI - KIRBY, AND DRL - BIRKLE LONDON FOR TSOU PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KMPI SOCI LE SUBJECT: MGLE01: ELECTORAL REFORM COMMISSION RESIGNEE QUESTIONS NEUTRALITY AND INDEPENDENCE OF FELLOW MEMBERS BEIRUT 00000899 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) In a 3/20 meeting, Ziad Baroud explained his resignation from the national commission on electoral law reform, lashing out at several fellow commission members in the process. Baroud asserted that a proposed nine-district electoral map was unfair to the Christian community, expressing bitterness that, in his view, "we Christians no longer fit in this country." Baroud also expressed deep disappointment with some of his colleagues, who, he claimed, were acting on personal interests rather than for the country's benefit. End summary. BAROUD LASHES OUT AT COMMISSION MEMBERS -------------- ¶2. (C) During a March 20 meeting, Baroud expressed deep disappointment with fellow members of the national commission charged with reforming the electoral law. (Note: Baroud resigned from the commission earlier this month, along with its other Maronite member, Michel Tabet.) He directed much of his ire at two longtime friends and colleagues, Nawaf Salam and Paul Salem. "If these people are supposed to be the intellectual elite of Lebanon, then what should we expect from others?" ¶3. (C) Baroud said that Salam -- a Sunni Muslim whom Baroud described as close to the Hariri family -- not Fouad Boutros, is the real chairman of the commission. He accused Salam, the commission's secretary, of deliberately postponing discussions on the controversial issue of electoral districts in an attempt to create a fait accompli. ¶4. (C) Baroud complained that others are "accusing me of seeing the Maronite Patriarch and getting directives from him. I don,t see the Patriarch every day, unlike Nawaf (Salam),who goes to Qoraytem (MP Sa'ad Hariri,s residence in West Beirut) every day. The fact of the matter is that they promised to appoint him Ambassador to Washington.8 CHRISTIAN ANGST -------------- ¶5. (C) Baroud also expressed surprise at Salem's attitude. He claimed that Salem -- one of the commission's two Greek-Orthodox Christian members -- told the commission that Christians should not have a sense of entitlement to half of the Parliament's seats, since they no longer constituted the majority of the population. ¶6. (C) "Unfortunately," Baroud said, "what counts for Paul is to become a member of Parliament" from his home district of the Kura in northern Lebanon. He added that Salem, widely seen as one of the most active and reform-minded members of the commission, opposed out-of-country voting for reasons having solely to do with his own, local political ambitions. He ultimately supported it only when the overwhelming majority of the commission did. ¶7. (C) Baroud even lashed out at Fayez Hajj Chahine, the commission's Greek-Catholic Christian member, who was Baroud's ally on the issue of nine electoral districts versus 13 -- the issue that drove Baroud to resign. He claimed that Hajj Chahine, almost immediately after Baroud's resignation, tried to market a replacement for him to the Maronite Patriarch. Hajj Chahine, according to Baroud, is someone who wants to please everyone. ¶8. (C) Commenting on fellow commission member Zouheir Chokr (septel),Baroud said, "he badly wanted this position, so there was a price to pay." (Note: The "position" Baroud referred to was the presidency of the Lebanese University, to which Chokr was recently appointed. Chokr, one of the commission's two Shi'a Muslim members, is reportedly close to Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri. End note.) BAROUD UNDECIDED TO RE-JOIN THE COMMISSION -------------- BEIRUT 00000899 002.2 OF 002 ¶9. (C) Baroud told us that he and Tabet met Prime Minister Siniora last Friday, March 17, in the presence of Boutros. Siniora advised the two to withdraw their resignations, assuring them that all disagreements would be resolved inside the commission. According to Baroud, Tabet was inclined to re-join the commission, "because the Prime Minister asked him to re-join." ¶10. (C) Baroud, in contrast, said he still had strong reservations about returning to the commission. He did not trust his fellow members. He claimed that, during the March 17 meeting, Siniora told him, "I had other arrangements for you." Baroud interpreted this as Siniora dangling a cabinet portfolio in front of him in return for greater "flexibility." A 13-DISTRICT ELECTORAL MAP AS A COMPROMISE -------------- ¶11. (C) Baroud told us that the 13-district electoral scheme he had advocated may not be the ideal formula, but it was a "good compromise" that would ensure effective representation of Christians in Parliament. Christian voters would be able to decide approximately 54 of the total of 64 Christian seats in Parliament. A nine-district scheme, in contrast, would lower that number to 42, he said. ¶12. (C) Baroud defended himself from accusations that he caved in to pressure from the Maronite community. He said, "everyone knows that I have never acted on a confessional basis and I have no personal interests at stake." As a native of the overwhelmingly-Maronite Keserwan region, he could pursue any personal political ambitions he might have regardless of whether the commission settled on nine districts or 13. The reason he opposed a nine-district scheme was because, in his view, it was unfair to the Christian community as a whole. "We Christians," Baroud said bitterly, "no longer fit in this country." ¶13. (C) Baroud said that Druze leader Walid Jumblatt is not enthusiastic about elections decided on a proportional basis (as opposed to a majoritarian or "first-past-the post" system),because this would cost his parliamentary bloc a number of seats in Mount Lebanon. However, Baroud claimed, Jumblatt favors a 13-district map, such as the one Baroud advocated in the commission. This is because it would separate regions with concentrations of pro-Jumblatt voters from those with concentrations of pro-Aoun voters. ¶14. (C) Asked about MP Sa'ad Hariri's position, Baroud said, "Hariri should keep in mind that he was able to win 34 parliamentary seats in the 2005 elections only because of the 'Ghazi Kena'an-made' electoral law, but this should never happen again." (Note: Baroud was referring to the electoral law of the year 2000, still in effect, widely seen as the work of Syria's military intelligence "proconsul" in Lebanon at the time, Ghazi Kena'an.) COMMENT -------------- ¶15. (C) The electoral reform commission is scheduled to reconvene on March 22. While some press reports on March 21 were suggesting that Baroud has decided to re-join the commission -- and PM Fouad Siniora insisted that was the case (see septel) -- we have little reason to be certain, based on our conversation with him, that he will be seated at the table. FELTMAN