POLITICAL DIALOGUE IN CHAD: SEARCHING FOR THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000907 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICAWATCHERS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV CD SUBJECT: POLITICAL DIALOGUE IN CHAD: SEARCHING FOR THE SCRIPT REF: NDJAMENA 894 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. A United Nations Development Program-hosted meeting to discuss the current state of the Chadian political dialogue provided little to chew on. The French Ambassador reiterated his concern that the opposition continued to look to the international community for direction. He stressed that the dialogue should focus on the upcoming legislative elections and noted that the EU would be prepared to provide significant funding for electoral reform if it was convinced of opposition participation. In a meeting the same day with President Deby's group of "Wisemen," participants asked for U.S. assistance in bringing the opposition to the table and agreed that holding credible elections was key to a stable future. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative Kingsley Amaning hosted a meeting for donors (U.S., France, EC) and other UN agencies on June 30 to discuss whither the Chadian political dialogue. Ambassador and DCM (notetaker) attended. French Ambassador Jean-Pierre Bercot dominated the discussion, stressing that the real question at hand was not "whither the dialogue" but "to what end the dialogue." Bercot noted that, while individual opposition leaders of the Coalition for the Defense of the Constitution (CPDC) showed slightly more flexibility when speaking privately than when speaking as group, the opposition nonetheless continued to insist on certain preconditions, including participation of Chadian rebels and Chadians living abroad in the dialogue. Of even more concern was the fact that the opposition was devoid of ideas, and looked to the international community for direction. Bercot had the impression that the opposition would prefer to hold the dialogue overseas altogether (though he noted as an aside, that it would certainly not be in France) and informed the group that many of the opposition had either temporarily left Chad for business/health reasons or were planning on traveling in the coming days. ¶3. (SBU) Ambassador Bercot stressed the importance of focusing on the upcoming legislative elections. To insist that the dialogue include decentralization, judicial reform, budget reform, etc, would be to overload the agenda. Those are the donor's issues, he pointed out -- not the opposition's. The EU was ready to contribute some 10 million euros to electoral reform, if it was clear that the opposition would in fact participate in the 2007 legislative elections. Action was needed now on a roadmap for holding credible legislative elections in 2007. To delay much longer would doom the effort as considerable work was needed to reform the electoral rolls and reconfigure the national electoral commission. ¶4. (SBU) In a meeting later that day with the President's group of "Wisemen", Chairman (and former Chadian President) General Felice Malloum explained to the Ambassador that the role of the group was to do everything possible to establish a "peaceful climate" between the Head of State and the opposition. He warned that the current political situation was not good for Chad and that U.S. interests could be in danger if the situation deteriorated. He encouraged the United States to assist in moving the opposition to take a less radical stance. ¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador responded that he had a great deal of respect for the members of the Wiseman's Group. He affirmed that the United States wanted to do what it could to encourage a dialogue and stressed our support for the efforts of this group. However, at the end of the day, the United States could not give them advice or recommendations, he pointed out. They needed to find their own solutions. ¶6. (SBU) Other members of the group sounded the same note as Malloum. They described their role as bringing the opposition and the authorities together around a table -- not to discuss the specific issues or negotiate themselves with the opposition. They stated matter-of-factly that they needed the help of the United States to bring the opposition to the table. Members believed that holding credible NDJAMENA 00000907 002 OF 002 legislative elections was key. However, if the opposition refused to participate again in the elections, then Chad would be back in a difficult situation. ¶7. (SBU) Members of the group also stressed that the President was the duly elected and legitimate Head of State and that the opposition needed to recognize the elections. They noted that many members of the CPDC had - in fact - voted against the Constitution during the 1995 referendum. It therefore was ironic that they now styled themselves the defenders of the Constitution. Other members asked the United States to help maintain Chad as a secular state where different religions could co-exist in harmony. They also stressed the need for stability in order to make use of oil revenues for poverty reduction. Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The "Wisemen" are in the process of meeting with a number of important actors on the Chadian political scene. They had a briefing on oil revenues and the Chadian economy from the World Bank's team in Chad for the multi-donor mission on June 30, and have also scheduled meetings with the German, French and European Commission diplomatic representatives on July 3. Leading members of the political opposition and civil society continue to scoff at the efforts of this group. They dismiss them as a charade to make it appear that President Deby is serious about opening a dialogue with his opponents but that is really intended to get the United States, the EC and other international partners calling for a dialogue off of his back. We will be meeting with these "Wisemen" individually in coming days. We would hope that future exchanges with them will move to a more substantive exchange on obstacles to a fruitful dialogue, to include (but not limited to) the issue of Presidential "alternation." WALL