PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS SITREP

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000067

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MUSTAFA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG PBTS IS KPAL KDEM
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS SITREP
#2: JANUARY 5, 2006: CEC DELIVERS RESIGNATION LETTER TO ABU
MAZEN

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. The Central Elections Commission (CEC)
January 4 delivered a letter to Palestinian Authority (PA)
President Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) requesting that the
commission be "relieved of its duties" for the January 25
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections. CEC Chief
Electoral Officer Ammar Dweik January 5 reported that the
letter was intended to convey the CEC's opposition to a
January 4 PA cabinet decision that would enable PA security
forces to vote in their respective duty stations, which the
CEC charged would open the elections to potential fraud. End
summary.

CEC Threatens Resignation
--------------


2. (C) The CEC January 4 delivered a letter to Abu Mazen
requesting that the nine-member commission, including
Chairman Hanna Nasir and Chief Electoral Officer Ammar Dweik,
be "relieved of its duties." The request stemmed from the
January 4 Palestinian cabinet decision that approved a PA
Ministry of Interior (MOI) plan to allow Palestinian security
personnel to vote where they are stationed, instead of the
CEC plan requiring that security personnel cast ballots where
they are registered to vote. The PA cabinet decision
contravened an earlier presidential decree by Abu Mazen
supporting the CEC's position.


3. (C) During a January 5 telecon with ConGen Poloff,
Dweik said that the commission's future role in the PLC
elections rested in Abu Mazen's hands. Dweik said that the
CEC had previously agreed to the following conditions for
early voting for the PA security forces, including:

-- Voting that would commence three days prior to the January
25 Election Day.

-- Voting that would occur in the district where security
personnel are registered.

-- Voting in polling centers identified and managed by the
CEC.


4. (C) Dweik said that PA Minister of Interior Nasser
Yusif had advocated that security personnel vote in their
installations rather than in polling stations operated by the
CEC. On January 4, the cabinet, based on recommendations
from PA Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya' (Abu Ala'a) and Yusif,
voted in favor of the MOI plan, namely:

-- Early voting for security personnel to commence three days
prior to the January 25 Election Day.

-- Allowing security personnel to vote "out of district."
For example, a security officer who is from Jenin, but is
stationed in Hebron, would be allowed to vote in Hebron for
elections in Jenin.

-- Voting would take place in duty stations/barracks, not in
designated CEC polling centers.


5. (C) Dweik said that the cabinet decision to allow
voting in stations/barracks was in violation of PA Election
Law and would undermine the legitimacy of the elections since
it opened the process up to accusations of fraud and
mismanagement. Dweik questioned the motives of Abu Ala'a,
adding that the CEC had briefed the Prime Minister several
days earlier on the impracticalities of allowing security
personnel to vote at their duty stations. (Note: If the
cabinet decision stands, the CEC would have to provide both
national and district ballots to every installation, rather
than keeping the respective district ballots confined to the
actual voting districts. End note.) Dweik said that the
PM's motives to push through a cabinet vote had raised the
CEC's suspicions that it was done intentionally. (Note: PLC
candidate Salam Fayyad January 5 told the Consul General that
Abu Ala'a is pushing this point to derail the elections,
adding that Abu Ala'a and Nabil Sh'ath were very worried
about Fatah's prospects in the PLC elections, including
recent defections from Fatah to Fayyad's party. End note.)

CEC to Await Decision
From Abu Mazen
--------------


6. (C) Dweik said that the CEC would wait for a response
from Abu Mazen to the commission's letter, adding that "he


(Abu Mazen) must either solve the problem or appoint a new
commission to handle the elections." (Note: Fayyad also
suggested to the Consul General that the resignation of the
CEC members (if confirmed) would make it impossible, as a
practical matter, to hold the elections as scheduled. While
Abu Mazen could theoretically appoint a new team at the CEC,
Fayyad said that it was hard to imagine finding acceptable
replacements at this late stage, especially in the wake of
reported death threats to CEC officials. Dweik had
previously informed ConGen Pol FSN that he and CEC Chairman
Hanna Nasir had received numerous death threats intended to
encourage them to postpone the elections. End note.) Dweik
indicated that the CEC would continue preparations for the
elections in the interim, including the printing of ballots,
voter education, and training its polling station staff.

Summary of Local
Press Coverage
--------------


7. (SBU) Palestinian dailies January 5 continued to report
on campaigning in the run-up to the PLC elections. Al-Quds
listed on its front-page the campaign activities of various
factions, including Fatah, "Reform and Change" (Hamas),
Mustafa Barghouthi's "Independent Palestine," Martyr Abu Ali
Mustafa (PFLP),and Fayyad's "Third Way." The dailies also
reported that al-Aqsa gunmen on January 4 took control of the
CEC's offices in Rafah to protest the PA's arrest of one of
its gunmen suspected in the kidnapping of three British
nationals last week.

-- Al-Quds published a public opinion poll from al-Aqsa
University in the Gaza Strip that 82 percent of respondents
planned to vote in the elections.

-- Al-Ayyam reported that three candidates were competing for
the lone PLC seat set aside for Christians in the Ramallah
district. The three candidates, Wisam Rafidi (PFLP),Muheeb
Awad (Fatah),and Zuhayr Khalaf (independent),shared similar
electoral agendas that emphasized their support for
Palestinian Christians.

Op-eds:

-- Commentator Yahia Rabah wrote in al-Hayat al-Jadida that
the USG appeared to favor holding the Palestinian elections
on time but charged that the White House had provided only
"lip service" on the issue.

-- Bakr Misbah Taneera opined in al-Quds that Israel had
fomented trouble and created obstacles to undermine the
election process.

-- Al-Ayyam ran a commentary by Muhammad Yaghi that
criticized those who had called for a postponement of the
elections, stressing that a delay would further damage
Palestinian interests.

WALLES