MAURITANIA STILL SHORT $4-$5 MILLION FOR ELECTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NOUAKCHOTT 000487

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PINR EAID KPAO MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA STILL SHORT $4-$5 MILLION FOR ELECTIONS

REF: NOUAKCHOTT 409

Classified By: Amb. Joseph LeBaron, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)

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(U) Key Points
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-- A donors' roundtable organized by the African Union and
Mauritania's transitional government met April 25 to solicit
more funds for Mauritania's electoral transition. The
funding drive has been successful, but Mauritania is still
$4-$5 million shy of the $22.5 million total election budget
estimate.

-- Mauritania said it will be able to pay 30% of the costs.
(Current contribution amounts by country are provided below.)

-- Ambassador used the Roundtable to announce locally the
U.S. contribution to Mauritania's transition to democracy:
approximately $1 million through contributions to the UNDP
Basket Fund, the National Democratic Institute, and through
use of discretionary Embassy funds (such as SSH, DHRF, and
PD).

-- The Minister of Interior acknowledged that "a lot still
needed to be done" to resolve problems associated with
issuing the national ID cards required for voter registration
(reftel)

-- Virtually every speaker, including the AU co-chair,
praised without reservation the transitional government's
progress towards free and fair elections.

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(C) Comments
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-- One can, of course, cynically dismiss this event as a
routine tin cup, feel-good exercise. But the Roundtable was
actually quite significant for the Mauritanians, and local
media coverage was extensive.

-- For the Mauritanians, the Roundtable symbolized the
international community's recognition that something quite
rare in the 46-year history of the Islamic Republic is
underway: a good-faith effort by the state to organize free
and fair elections and to strengthen democratic institutions,
including political parties.

-- Mauritanians crave such recognition and favorable
attention, and the Roundtable provided it. For the moment,
all the census problems, inter-communal tensions, and White
Moor dominance issues were set aside to focus on all the good
things that are happening here.

End Key Points and Comments.


1. (U) An African Union (AU) sponsored Donors' Roundtable met
in Nouakchott April 25 to solicit funds for Mauritania's
electoral transition. Attendees included the AU, EU, UN,
International Organization of Francophone Countries (OIF),
and various Ambassadors and representatives from European,
African, Middle East and Asian countries.

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ELECTION COSTS
--------------


2. (U) The government presented a figure of 22,535,166 USD to
fund the entire electoral process, through the March 2007
Presidential elections. This figure was broken into the 12
categories listed below. These estimates are based on the
assumption that there will be approximately 1,350,000
eligible voters, 3,375 polling locations all staffed by a
representative of the National Independent Electoral
Commission, and that the list of registered voters will be
opened prior to the Presidential elections to allow for
additional registrants to be added.

National Independent Electoral Commission - 7,085,111 USD


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Civil Registry Assistance (ex: birth certificates) - 656,295
USD

Ministry of Justice Assistance - 92,384 USD

Production of National Identity Cards - 350,689 USD

Public Funding of Political Parties and the Press - 1,674,746
USD

Census / Voter Registration - 3,783,655 USD

Election Referendum - June 2006 - 1,908,242 USD

Legislative and Municipal Elections - November 2006 -
2,397,805 USD

Senatorial Elections - January 2007 - 93,638 USD

Presidential Elections - March 2007 - 2,421,150 USD

Technical Assistance - 1,060,500 USD

Management - 1,010,949 USD

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THE NEED
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3. (U) Governmental officials said that with the financial
commitments currently received or committed to, and the
government's budgeting of 6,029,583 USD for elections -- 30
percent of the total estimated costs -- 7,192,864 USD
remained unfunded at the beginning of the Roundtable.
Following the commitments made during the Roundtable by the
countries listed below, the shortfall remains between
4,000,000 and 5,000,000 USD, depending on how one assesses
the contributions.

U.S. - 200,000 USD

Japan - 1,137,000 USD

Germany - 500,000 Euro

Senegal - 200,000 USD

African Union - 100,000 USD


4. (U) At the Roundtable the UN also committed to give an
additional 300,000 USD for programming to help better
integrate women into the political transition process.


5. (U) The list of donors and contributions received or
committed to prior to the Roundtable was as follows:

UNDP - 1,060,500 USD for technical assistance

EU - 6,000,000 Euro

France - 500,000 Euro

Spain - 500,000 Euro

The Netherlands - 250,000 Euro

Egypt - 17,000 USD

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WHAT TO DO WITH THE SHORTFALL
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6. (U) The government and AU representatives thanked
attendees for their "generosity" and "commitment to ensuring
the success of the transition," adding that "we will need
continued assistance to ensure the success of our efforts."
The Minister of Finance Abdallahi Ould Souleymane Ould Cheikh
Sidiya added that the government will look to "pre-finance"
any commitments that are not received in time, but said the
details of such a move would need to be determined in the
UNDP Basket Fund Steering Committee meeting -- in which the
U.S. will now have a permanent seat following the 200,000 USD

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commitment.
LeBaron