Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PORTAUPRINCE348
2006-02-22 13:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:
CEP PRESSURED TO ANOINT PREVAL UNTIL HIS
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000348
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: 02/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PKAO HA
SUBJECT: CEP PRESSURED TO ANOINT PREVAL UNTIL HIS
DECLARATION AS WINNER
Classified By: CDA Timothy Carney, Reasons 1.4 b and d.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000348
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: 02/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PKAO HA
SUBJECT: CEP PRESSURED TO ANOINT PREVAL UNTIL HIS
DECLARATION AS WINNER
Classified By: CDA Timothy Carney, Reasons 1.4 b and d.
1. (C) Summary: Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) General
Director Jacques Bernard and members of the CEP report that
they came under extreme pressure from the executive to "throw
the election" to Rene Preval as vote counting for the Haitian
presidential race came to a close February 12 and 13. After
Preval's supporters began their largely peaceful protests
February 13, the IGOH, CEP and Preval agreed to form a
committee to examine the results. CEP member Pierre Richard
Duchemin called the committee cover for a political decision.
The IGOH disbanded the committee February 15 and in
conjunction with the CEP and members of the international
community decided to redistribute blank votes among all the
presidential candidates, thereby giving Preval the win. End
Summary.
2. (C) As the vote count for Haiti's presidential race neared
completion February 12 and 13, it became increasingly clear
that due to the large number of blank and spoiled ballots
presidential hopeful Rene Preval would receive less than 50
percent of the vote. According to Provisional Electoral
Council (CEP) Director General Jacques Bernard, as Preval
supporters began to cry foul and threaten demonstrations, the
Minister of the Interior and the President's office intensely
pressured Bernard to declare Preval the winner by giving him
53 percent of the vote. Bernard resisted, saying that his
job was to ensure that recorded votes were the only thing
that contributed to the result of the election.
3. (C) Preval's supporters began to protest February 13 and
Preval himself proclaimed that there had been massive
electoral manipulation. Preval said he and his supporters
would contest any result that did not give him more than 50
percent of the vote. The Interim Government of Haiti (IGOH)
proposed creating a commission composed of the IGOH, CEP, and
L'Espwa party representatives to study the results. The
commission was set to include both the Minister of the
Interior and the President's Chief of Staff, two chief
sources of early pressure on Jacques Bernard. CEP member
Pierre Richard Duchemin called the commission a "rubber
stamp" February 14 and said it would produce a political, not
a technical, solution to problems with the election.
4. (C) The IGOH abandoned the commission idea February 15;
later that evening, under intense pressure from the IGOH, the
CEP decided to redistribute blank ballots among the
presidential candidates giving Preval the win. Some CEP
members came under intense pressure from the executive as
well as the Chilean and Brazilian ambassadors to find a way
to give Preval a first round victory. CEP member Josepha
Gauthier said the government locked the CEP in a room in the
Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Juvenat, kept the members from
sleeping, and threatened the CEP with responsibility for any
bloodshed or violence that might result from a second round.
As a show of his displeasure, CEP member Francois Benoit
abstained from the vote, but all other eight members voted to
redistribute the blank ballots. Duchemin said February 17
that the decision avoided jeopardizing the credibility of the
vote and that the populace would not have accepted
contestations followed by at least some recounting of the
results.
5. (C) Comment: Under the February 2005 electoral decree,
candidates must receive more than 50 percent of the vote to
win. This provisions is particularly problematic as we
approach the second round in which the high number of blank
ballots could results in a number of races where neither
candidate receives the magic 50 percent. The electoral
decree needs to be modified before the second round, and the
CEP needs to carefully communicate why the modification was
PORT AU PR 00000348 002 OF 002
needed. In Preval's case, where he received more votes than
all the other candidates combined, the CEP's decision is
defensible. However, Preval will have to reach out to his
former rivals in order to govern this divided country. End
Comment.
CARNEY
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: 02/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PKAO HA
SUBJECT: CEP PRESSURED TO ANOINT PREVAL UNTIL HIS
DECLARATION AS WINNER
Classified By: CDA Timothy Carney, Reasons 1.4 b and d.
1. (C) Summary: Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) General
Director Jacques Bernard and members of the CEP report that
they came under extreme pressure from the executive to "throw
the election" to Rene Preval as vote counting for the Haitian
presidential race came to a close February 12 and 13. After
Preval's supporters began their largely peaceful protests
February 13, the IGOH, CEP and Preval agreed to form a
committee to examine the results. CEP member Pierre Richard
Duchemin called the committee cover for a political decision.
The IGOH disbanded the committee February 15 and in
conjunction with the CEP and members of the international
community decided to redistribute blank votes among all the
presidential candidates, thereby giving Preval the win. End
Summary.
2. (C) As the vote count for Haiti's presidential race neared
completion February 12 and 13, it became increasingly clear
that due to the large number of blank and spoiled ballots
presidential hopeful Rene Preval would receive less than 50
percent of the vote. According to Provisional Electoral
Council (CEP) Director General Jacques Bernard, as Preval
supporters began to cry foul and threaten demonstrations, the
Minister of the Interior and the President's office intensely
pressured Bernard to declare Preval the winner by giving him
53 percent of the vote. Bernard resisted, saying that his
job was to ensure that recorded votes were the only thing
that contributed to the result of the election.
3. (C) Preval's supporters began to protest February 13 and
Preval himself proclaimed that there had been massive
electoral manipulation. Preval said he and his supporters
would contest any result that did not give him more than 50
percent of the vote. The Interim Government of Haiti (IGOH)
proposed creating a commission composed of the IGOH, CEP, and
L'Espwa party representatives to study the results. The
commission was set to include both the Minister of the
Interior and the President's Chief of Staff, two chief
sources of early pressure on Jacques Bernard. CEP member
Pierre Richard Duchemin called the commission a "rubber
stamp" February 14 and said it would produce a political, not
a technical, solution to problems with the election.
4. (C) The IGOH abandoned the commission idea February 15;
later that evening, under intense pressure from the IGOH, the
CEP decided to redistribute blank ballots among the
presidential candidates giving Preval the win. Some CEP
members came under intense pressure from the executive as
well as the Chilean and Brazilian ambassadors to find a way
to give Preval a first round victory. CEP member Josepha
Gauthier said the government locked the CEP in a room in the
Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Juvenat, kept the members from
sleeping, and threatened the CEP with responsibility for any
bloodshed or violence that might result from a second round.
As a show of his displeasure, CEP member Francois Benoit
abstained from the vote, but all other eight members voted to
redistribute the blank ballots. Duchemin said February 17
that the decision avoided jeopardizing the credibility of the
vote and that the populace would not have accepted
contestations followed by at least some recounting of the
results.
5. (C) Comment: Under the February 2005 electoral decree,
candidates must receive more than 50 percent of the vote to
win. This provisions is particularly problematic as we
approach the second round in which the high number of blank
ballots could results in a number of races where neither
candidate receives the magic 50 percent. The electoral
decree needs to be modified before the second round, and the
CEP needs to carefully communicate why the modification was
PORT AU PR 00000348 002 OF 002
needed. In Preval's case, where he received more votes than
all the other candidates combined, the CEP's decision is
defensible. However, Preval will have to reach out to his
former rivals in order to govern this divided country. End
Comment.
CARNEY