JACQUES BERNARD RESIGNING FROM CEP TODAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 002374 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR DRL S/CRS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) TREASURY FOR JEFFREY LEVINE E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2011 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL HA SUBJECT: JACQUES BERNARD RESIGNING FROM CEP TODAY Classified By: Classified by Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) Director General Jacques Bernard called on the Ambassador on the morning of December 14 to inform her that he was submitting his resignation to CEP President Max Mathurin later in the day. Bernard stated that with the completion of the local elections on December 3, his job was complete. He was also increasingly uncomfortable with CEP members' requests to authorize expenditures. Bernard did not know how or if Mathurin would replace him: there was no formal mechanism in place for an acting DG to assume his responsibilities. He will designate two officials from Elections Canada to monitor the use of donated resources on behalf of the donors. Bernard recommended against including electoral assistance in MINUSTAH's next mandate, arguing instead for a continuing partnership between the OAS, Elections Canada, and the CEP. He might be willing to later assist the GoH in carrying out "electoral reform," but not under the current CEP. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Bernard informed the Ambassador that he had asked for the early morning appointment to ensure that she heard of his resignation directly from him. He would submit his letter to Mathurin later in the morning and release it to selected radio stations at the same time. The Ambassador congratulated him on a job well done and thanked him for his indispensable contribution to the restoration of democracy to Haiti. ¶3. (C) Bernard stated that with the completion of the local elections, he had completed his task. He expressed confidence that the legal staff he had put in place would effectively rule on challenges and certify the results of the elections. Spurring his resignation somewhat sooner than he had originally planned was his discomfort with irregular expenditures that CEP members and staff were asking him to approve. In the face of Bernard's refusals, CEP counselor Rosemond Pradel was approving many of these requests under his previous authority as CEP Secretary General. Under new CEP bylaws formally adopted in November 2005, however, only Bernard and Mathurin have disbursing authority. Finally, the previous night flyers had appeared in front of his apartment telling him not to make any deals with "Beker" (presumably former presidential candidate Charles Henri Baker). Bernard said that he was not overly concerned with this incident, he had received far worse threats, but it factored into his decision to advance his departure from Haiti for the holidays. ¶4. (SBU) Bernard stated that there was no internal mechanism within the CEP to replace the director general, and he did not know how Mathurin would proceed. (Note: CEP bylaws state that the President appoints the DG subject to the approval of the CEP board memebers End Note.) He doubted, however, that the CEP would be able to function effectively as a board after his departure. His focus had been strengthening the permanent administrative apparatus and he hoped that the importance of the board would diminish relative to a permanent director general and staff once the permanent board was established, citing Haiti's central bank as a model. ¶5. (C) Bernard's chief immediate concern was to protect the resources, principally vehicles, computers, and office equipment, donated to the CEP by international community, as these resources typically disappeared after each election. Donors, he claimed, had not formally transferred this equipment to the CEP. Thus he would designate two international elections advisors from Elections Canada to act as custodians. He cautioned that they would need the direct support of the international community to carry out this role. He would spend his last hours in his office completing an inventory of CEP resources. ¶6. (C) Bernard strongly recommended that the MINUSTAH's technical role in elections end with the current mandate. Repeating an argument he made several times over the course of preparations for the final round of elections, he argued PORT AU PR 00002374 002 OF 002 that MINUSTAH's electoral assistance unit had contributed no useful expertise or management. He emphasized the OAS' expertise in voter registration, voter lists, and tabulation procedures must be preserved and praised the technical experts from Elections Canada. Asked how best to integrate this expertise into a permanent electoral council, Bernard advised instead that these institutions form a partnership whereby the CEP could call on their technical experts to provide specific services as needed. ¶7. (C) Asked by the Ambassador what reaction he expected to his resignation, Bernard said it would be mostly "negative" (meaning most would regret his resignation). Most CEP counselors understood that he had organized the CEP and made the necessary decisions to make the elections possible. He had gained the trust of elected officials and cabinet ministers through his impartial management of the electoral process. He had heard that even Prime Minister Alexis, who Bernard believed had kept his distance from him because of rumors that he was anti-Preval, was now telling his advisors that Bernard had established a good model for other government ministries with a strong, apolitical director general controlling a professional staff. ¶8. (C) Comment: Bernard had stated for months that he would resign after the completion of the third round. His resignation prior to the certification of the results, however, is somewhat of a surprise. He has clearly had enough of dealing with CEP members who were at best ineffective, and at worst inept, working at cross-purposes, or malfeasant. Given these and the other circumstances under which he worked, Bernard's accomplishments were truly heroic. He has won admirers across the political and social spectrum in Haiti, and the GoH may well ask Bernard to continue to serve in some other capacity. ¶9. (C) Comment Continued. Post agrees with Bernard's assessment of MINUSTAH's role in the electoral process. Weakness in MINUSTAH's electoral assistance unit has been a problem since the beginning of the mandate. MINUSTAH provided virtually no value added technically to the electoral process once Bernard became DG in October 2005. Assistance provided by the OAS and Elections Canada proved much more responsive and flexible. SANDERSON