INDIGENOUS REGIONAL PARTY CONTESTS ELECTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 000643

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: INDIGENOUS REGIONAL PARTY CONTESTS ELECTION
RESULTS AND WINS


Classified By: AMBASSADOR PAUL TRIVELLI. REASONS 1.4 (B,D)


1. (SBU) The Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) decided in
favor of indigenous regional party Yatama on March 18, ruling
that the party won 13 seats in Nicaragua's Northern
Autonomous Region (RAAN) election instead of the previously
reported 12. Yatama leaders contested the election results
in the
RAAN based on a 2002 agreement signed by all political
parties that transferred three JRVs from district 4 -- a
predominantly Miskito area -- to district 14, predominantly
Mestizo. The CSE originally printed ballots reflecting this
agreement. However, after the Liberal Constitutional Party
(PLC) contested them, the CSE reversed the decision and
printed ballots returning them to the original polling
station (JRV) divisions. With this change, the Sandinistas
(FSLN) took a seat at the expense of Yatama in the March 5
election.


2. (U) Rejecting this outcome, Yatama leaders staged
protests throughout Bilwi. A group of Yatama protesters in

the RAAN occupied the regional electoral council (CER)
building in Bilwi on March 14 and held the CER president
hostage. Demonstrations also closed the airport, and Yatama
members threatened to block the entrance to the city. Yatama
leader and Bilwi mayor Elizabeth Henriquez informed the press
that Yatama would not form a government with either the FSLN
or the PLC until the matter was resolved satisfactorily.


3. (C) An International Foundation for Elections (IFES)
source related to poloff that the CSE had called a breakfast
meeting on March 16 with IFES, Organization of American
States (OAS) and the Center for Human Rights on the Atlantic
Coast (CEDECA) to address the issue. The CSE members
outlined the situation and reported that they were able to
work with the bishop in Bilwi to provide water to the captive
CER representative. According to the IFES representative,
the CSE could not make any official pronouncements until
midnight March 17 - the deadline for disputing election
results. However, the FSLN had apparently agreed not to
fight Yatama's claim to the seat. The CSE relayed
information through the bishop that the situation would be
resolved in Yatama's favor and announced it publicly on March
20, in order to encourage Yatama to release the CER
representative and refrain from more protests.


4. (SBU) The CSE announced on March 18 that the seat had
been given to Yatama, but the seat was won at the expense of
the PLC, instead of the FSLN. New regional totals are as
follows: RAAN -- PLC 16, FSLN 16, Yatama 13, RAAS - PLC 22,
FSLN 11, ALN-PC 6, Yatama 6. The Yatama leadership called
off the demonstrations the afternoon of March 18. When
businesses threatened to raise prices to recoup expenses from
shipping products by land instead of by air when the airport
was closed, Mayor Henriquez issued a statement threatening to
fine any businesses that increased their prices due to the
strike.


5. (C) Comment: The calculations behind the CSE decision
are complicated. According to IFES, the Yatama seat would be
taken from the FSLN, who had agreed not to fight Yatama's
claim to the seat. The original plan was to tally the votes
with the three contested JRVs included in the voting center
per the agreement in 2002. This would have resulted in
Yatama gaining the seat at the expense of the FSLN. However,
when the CSE decided to combine all the votes of the two
affected voting centers and calculate the results based on
the accumulated vote, Yatama won the additional seat at the
expense of the PLC. The PLC is contesting this decision and
two other seats in the RAAN. End Comment.
TRIVELLI