AMBASSADOR PUSHES FREEDOM AGENDA WITH PM BAJAMMAL,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANAA 000815 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2016 TAGS: PREL KDEM ECON YM SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR PUSHES FREEDOM AGENDA WITH PM BAJAMMAL, PLUS MCA AND TENDERING REF: A. SANAA 342 ¶B. SANAA 537 ¶C. SANAA 649 SANAA 00000815 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. On March 19, Ambassador met with Prime Minister Abdul Kader Bajammal to discuss the new cabinet and reform efforts. Ambassador congratulated Bajammal on the new cabinet and looked forward to future cooperation on political and economic reforms. Even though Yemen was a difficult country to govern, Bajammal agreed that reform efforts must continue, including the restructuring of the committee that oversees government tenders. On the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA),Ambassador stressed that if the ROYG wanted to be reconsidered for the Threshold Program, it must demonstrate real progress on tackling corruption and protecting press freedoms. Ambassador also informed Bajammal that a delegation from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) would soon visit Yemen to complete a due diligence report for a proposal to guarantee loans for the $4 billion Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas project. END SUMMARY. -------------- New Cabinet: It's Hard to Say Good-bye -------------- ¶2. (C) Ambassador congratulated Bajammal on the formation of the new cabinet (ref A),noting that the inclusion of several qualified professionals, especially at key ministries like Oil, Finance, and Planning, boded well for reform efforts. The test will be, continued Ambassador, whether or not these well-intentioned new ministers will receive support from President Saleh and Bajammal to combat the entrenched interests within their own ministries. "It's a difficult job ruling Yemen," Bajammal replied "but we must continue with these reforms." Even though a change was necessary, Bajammal said that it was difficult to say good-bye to some of the ministers, several of whom had been in the government over 20 years. "We cannot have political democracy without economic democracy," he added, "so we must change our policies." ¶3. (C) Bajammal said that the ROYG intended to modernize the Yemeni economy by harmonizing its economic policy with the GCC countries, especially in the fields of customs, tendering, banking and taxation. Ambassador noted that the USG is encouraging GCC countries to integrate Yemen into its political, economic, and security cooperation and hoped Yemen was seeing the results of those efforts. Bajammal replied that the GCC members have been more welcoming of Yemen's requests for assistance, including the creation of a special development fund to support large-scale infrastructure projects such as roads and power generation, but have not yet agreed to any specific projects. In addition to governmental support, he hoped to encourage more private investment from the Gulf during a November investment conference in Aden, saying that "we need to stop Yemenis from leaving for the Gulf and give them jobs here." -------------- - MCC: Addressing Corruption and Press Freedoms -------------- - ¶4. (C) "The USG is an investor as well," Ambassador said, and, like any investor, would only make an investment if the process was open and transparent. Ambassador noted that Yemen was suspended in November 2005 from the MCC Threshold Program for concerns over corruption and press freedom. He urged the ROYG to implement the specific reforms outlined in a November letter from MCC CEO John Danilovich, before the Board of Directors meets again in May to review Yemen's application. ¶5. (C) One of the most important steps Yemen could take to tackle corruption, Ambassador explained, would be to create an independent tendering committee staffed with experts that would reward contracts in an open and transparent process. Bajammal agreed, saying that the ROYG, in cooperation with the World Bank, had already created new guidelines for an independent tendering committee and submitted the changes to Parliament. Bajammal assured the Ambassador that "we are going to make real changes. This committee will be staffed by independent, qualified, and honest members." ¶6. (C) As a demonstration of Yemen's commitment to SANAA 00000815 002.2 OF 003 transparency, Ambassador recommended that this new committee accept a temporary consultant sponsored by the World Bank or USG, to verify that major international tenders are being awarded to qualified candidates through a transparent process. "I accept the recommendation," Bajammal replied. Ambassador welcomed his response, noting that the last time the donor community raised the issue of an international observer on the tendering committee, Saleh abruptly left the meeting complaining of "colonial" interference (ref B). ¶7. (C) On MCC concerns over a deterioration in press freedoms, Ambassador encouraged the ROYG to support a new press law that would adequately protect journalists from government intimidation. "We will create a law to protect both the journalists and the government," Bajammal replied. "What protection does the government need?" responded Ambassador. Bajammal explained that in the tribal system that pervades Yemeni life, the government had a duty to protect individuals from attacks on them and on their families' reputations. Disagreeing, Ambassador stressed that the international community will never consider protecting Sheikhs or government officials from negative press a legitimate reason to curtail press freedoms. "Every time you jail a journalist or close a newspaper, the world is watching and Yemen's reputation is damaged," warned Ambassador. -------------- -------------- Don't Stop with the Donors: Attracting Private Investment -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) More important than just convincing donors, Ambassador emphasized that the real test for long term economic development was if the ROYG could convince private investors that Yemen was a good investment. He informed Bajammal that a delegation from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) would soon be visiting Yemen to complete a due diligence report for loan guarantees in support of the $4 billion Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas (YLNG) project, which will create an LNG export terminal (septel). "This is an important project and the entire process must be open and clean to attract investors," Ambassador said, especially regarding the large number of contracts that will be awarded for everything from turbines to cleaning crews. ¶9. (C) Bajammal replied, "I know we are under the microscope." He assured Ambassador the ROYG supports an open contracting process, but noted that the government only maintained a 24 percent stake in the project. "On the contrary, the government has great influence," Ambassador said, and must use that influence to ensure a transparent process. On overall transparency in the oil sector, Bajammal informed Ambassador that things were already changing within the Ministry of Oil, including the removal of the corrupt head of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Authority (PEPA),Nabeel Al-Gawsi (septel). (Comment: Contrary to Bajammal's assurances, Post has already received reports that government officials are pressuring the "independent" YLNG contracting committee to award contracts to their well-connected cronies. End Comment). -------------- -------------- Elections: The Opposition Just Doesn't Understand Democracy -------------- -------------- ¶10. (U) Ambassador expressed hope that preparations for and voting during the September Presidential and local council elections would also be conducted in an open and transparent manner. "The USG will not be involved in the politics, but we, along with the rest of the world, will be watching to see if the elections are free and fair," Ambassador emphasized. Bajammal replied that democracy was slowly moving forward in Yemen, but complained that the opposition did not understand democracy and chose instead to complain incessantly about the composition of the independent elections commission (ref C). "We can't re-write the election law over night, this is a democracy," Bajammal said, adding that while the ROYG could not add more opposition members to the elections commission, the opposition was welcome to participate in the various regional and local committees that monitor voter registration and polling stations. (Comment: While the elections commission may be nominally independent, in reality, its is headed by a ruling-party insider and the government exerts a significant amount of control over its activities. End Comment). -------------- SANAA 00000815 003.2 OF 003 Comment -------------- ¶11. (C) Prime Minister Bajammal was certainly on message with President Saleh's directive to the new cabinet to implement economic and political reforms, as have all the new ministers during their introductory meetings with Ambassador. While post is still encouraged by the inclusion of a number of professional and capable bureaucrats in key positions within the new cabinet, the retention of the corrupt and powerful Bajammal remains a disappointment. ¶12. (C) Although Bajammal spoke positively about reform, the true test will be if he and President Saleh empower the ministers to remove corrupt individuals from their ministries and implement real reform. The removal of the corrupt PEPA director and the acceptance of an international observer for major international tenders are positive steps forward. Many more steps are needed, however, to ensure comprehensive and lasting reform that will benefit Yemen's rapidly expanding population. Post will continue to encourage the ROYG to take more concrete action on implementing reforms before the May MCC board meeting. Krajeski