OMAN REJECTS MEPI ELECTION PROGRAMS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000963 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP AND NEA/PI ABU DHABI FOR MEPI/RO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KDEM KMPI KWMN MU SUBJECT: OMAN REJECTS MEPI ELECTION PROGRAMS -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Acting Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi conveyed on June 12 Oman's decision to disallow MEPI-funded programming related to elections and "internal politics," including the voter education aspects of a new IRI program that was set to begin this month. MEPI programs in less sensitive areas are nevertheless still welcome. End summary. -------------- WEAVE Unspun -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In a June 12 meeting with the Charge, Acting Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi expressed the government's serious concerns over MEPI-funded election programs in Oman, notwithstanding the Ministry of Social Development's (MOSD) September 2005 request for a women's voter education project and subsequent written approval of the resulting concept paper. He said the topic is a very sensitive issue, and feared that MEPI funding in this area would be viewed by the media and the public as an attempt by the United States to "meddle" in Omani politics. He stressed that the government could not therefore permit the election-related aspects of the International Republican Institute's (IRI) "Women's Empowerment and Voter Education" (WEAVE) project that had been set to begin in June. -------------- MEPI Welcome in Other Areas -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Sayyid Badr stressed that MEPI funds must be shifted from "politically sensitive" areas to less controversial ones, such as training, capacity-building, and human resources development. He said he would like to see more in terms of training programs and seminars, empowering women through education rather than elections. Sayyid Badr suggested, for instance, that MEPI bring high-caliber trainers and teachers to share their experiences and raise public awareness of issues such as domestic abuse. He also supported programs that would strengthen the capabilities and capacities of NGO's such as the Omani Women's Associations (OWA's). (Note: Given that the WEAVE project includes an OWA capacity-building component and technical assistance for the MOSD in NGO development and women's empowerment, Post believes those aspects of WEAVE should still be acceptable to the Omani government. End note.) -------------- Coordinating with the MFA -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Sayyid Badr strongly advised the Embassy to work more closely with the MFA on MEPI-related programs. He also relayed complaints from OWA representatives who felt that Embassy employees were "too aggressive" in pushing for decisions on MEPI-funded programs. (Note: Curiously, in talks with us, OWA members have vented frustration exclusively in the direction of the Omani government. End note.) -------------- Comment -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Given unusual delays in recent weeks in MOSD's final approval of IRI's WEAVE project, it was not surprising when the President of the Muscat OWA speculated on June 11 that the Council of Ministers had turned the program down. We believe it likely that the controversy in Bahrain over NDI activities, raised with us on several occasions by the MFA's MEPI-watcher, as well as public displeasure over perceptions of unwelcome USG "interference," may also have strengthened the hand of MEPI-phobes within the government. ¶6. (SBU) Comment continued: It is worth noting that Oman decided in April to use the UN agency UNIFEM for a women's electoral assistance program, leading to the late cancellation of a MEPI-funded "campaign school" program in Muscat also originally scheduled for this month, perhaps revealing a desire to opt for a program "untainted" by the USG. That and the WEAVE set-backs clearly illustrate our need to thoroughly coordinate proposed MEPI programs from an earlier stage with the Foreign Ministry, rather than risk late cancellation as has happened in these two recent incidents. For the near term, we will need to work with MEPI and IRI to revise the WEAVE project within the new parameters. In the longer term, MEPI will have to factor in greater lead time for project planning and development to allow for closer coordination with the Omani government. STEWART