NEW DIRECTOR OF CHAD PRESIDENT'S CIVIL CABINET

C O N F I D E N T I A L NDJAMENA 001182

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PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICAWATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/27/2007
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM CD
SUBJECT: NEW DIRECTOR OF CHAD PRESIDENT'S CIVIL CABINET

Classified By: LUCY TAMLYN, DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION, FOR REASONS
1.4 (B)


1. (C) Summary. The new Director of President Deby's Civil
Cabinet told the Ambassador that Chadian rebels in the east
were effectively confined to a zone near the border and would
not venture further into Chad. He spoke frankly of ongoing
negotiations with the rebels and reported some successes.
End summary.


2. (U) The Ambassador met with Mahamat Hissein, the new
Director of President Deby's Civil Cabinet on September 27,

2006. Formerly the Secretary General of the President's
Patriotic Salvation Movement party (French acronym MPS) and
Vice-President of the National Assembly, Hissein assumed the
position of Director of the Civil Cabinet during the cabinet
shuffles of early September.


3. (U) Hissein joked that he was indeed in the "the hot
seat" in his latest position. By the time something gets to
me, he acknowledged, it's both "urgent and serious!" Hissein
stated that the Ambassador would always find him available,
and welcomed the opportunity to improve relations between
Chad and the United States. He recalled his previous visits
to the United States (both work-related, as well as for
studies),and explained that he had some familiarity with
Americans and the American system which gave him insight into
U.S. views and beliefs.


4. (U) Looking ahead to the priorities for the coming year,
Hissein highlighted the upcoming budget sessions with the
National Assembly, the start-up of the ne government,
reorganization of the MPS, and upcoming elections.
Implementation of the President's ocial program, including
raising the minimum wag, was a priorityas well. Of course,
he added tere were also military and political issues to be
dealt with. He assured the Ambassador that the hihest
priority was to "have more serenity" in Cha. Hissein
explained that the postponed local elections would be held at
the end of 2006, and the postponed legislative elections
would be held in October 2007. Delegations would be heading
out to the field to prepare these local elections. Hissein
explained that the government wanted to conduct a full
national census. Without this, it would be difficult to
clean the electoral rolls. (Comment: Post has requested ESF
funding to support the national census -- the first to be
held since 1993. End Comment) Hissein pointed out that local
elections will give Chadian citizens a new opportunity to
affect local issues; however, nomads will not vote in these
local election -- they will have an opportunity to cast
ballots in yet a third election to be held after the
legislative elections in which rural "decentralized
communities" will pick representatives. Concerning
legislative elections, Hissein noted that the issue of
determining electoral districts still needs to be resolved.


5. (C) On the current situation in eastern Chad, Hissein
responded that the recent clashes were due to the Sudanese
government's move to push Chadian rebels back into Chad. He
warned that these conflicts were not over, but at least the
rebels "would not make it further into the interior." He
noted that the rebels were confined to a small zone and that
some of them were crossing over to the government side. He
explained that the government was in active negotiation with
rebels, but that this process would take some time. These
negotiations were not about "political reconciliation", he
asserted, but about "social standing" for army deserters who
sought reinstatement. "As long as this is done discretely,"
he said "this will work." He said that some 100 had come
over to the governmens side. The issue was to find a balance
between the use of force and "the extended hand."

Comment:


6. (C) Hissein appeared at ease in his new position, and
eager to maintain an open and good relationship with the
Ambassador. His comments on the ongoing negotiations between
the government and rebel forces were unusually frank.
However, while rank-and-file desertees may be tempted by
reinstatement, the rebel's political leadership is unlikely
to be brought in with such inducements. Their eventual goal
still appears to be the removal of President Deby from power.
End Comment.

Bio note: Hissein is a long-time MPS insider, having served
as the President Deby's Press Officer shortly after the coup
d'etat that brought Deby to power. Hissein is a journalist
by training, and the owner of the daily newspaper "Le
Progress" which, with some minor exceptions, generally
assumes the role of a pro-government mouthpiece. Le
Progress has also been the most critical of U.S. foreign
policy among Chad's independent newspapers. More recently
Hissein triumphed in what was reportedly a bruising internal
MPS contest to retain the presidency of the MPS. As the MPS
Secretary General, he delivered a forceful "the times they

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are a-changing" speech to the MPS party faithful at the 2006
Party Congress in which he did not shy away from direct
criticism of the party and called on the MPS to become more
professional, attack corruption, and become a truly national
political party.
WALL