ELECTIONS TOO EXPENSIVE - MAYBE WE SHOULD WAIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L CONAKRY 001099

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM GV
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS TOO EXPENSIVE - MAYBE WE SHOULD WAIT


Classified By: POL/ECON CHIEF SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY. A senior contact within the majority party
revealed that certain unidentified elements may be exploring
the possibility of delaying legislative elections until 2010.
Citing concerns over the $21 million budget line item for
election preparations, some individuals are reportedly
arguing that the money would be better spent if they waited
and held presidential and legislative elections at the same
time. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) On September 26, poloff met with Aliou Banire Diallo,
President of the Party for Unity and Progress (PUP)
Parliamentary Group within the National Assembly and a member
of the party,s executive board. Joining Diallo was Cheick
Tidiane Traore, the youngest deputy to the National Assembly.


3. (C) Commenting on the opening of the regular budget
session on September 25, Diallo said that many National
Assembly deputies are concerned over the $21 million budget
line item for legislative elections. According to Diallo,
some feel that this is an excessive amount of money when the
country has so many other priorities. While avoiding
specifics, Diallo said that there are &emerging tendencies8
to delay elections until 2010 so that they can be held
simultaneously with the scheduled presidential elections,
thereby making more efficient use of government funds.


4. (C) Diallo added that holding presidential and
legislative elections together would also avoid the
possibility of having a president of one party and a
legislature of another. He pointed to the constitutional
provision which requires that the a newly convened National
Assembly must be allowed to operate for a period of three
years before it can be dissolved by the President. &If we
elect the National Assembly in 2008 and the president in
2010, the president will not be able to dissolve the National
Assembly until 2011...so we could have at least a year where
the government is internally divided.8 He added that if the
elections were held simultaneously, there would be a better
chance that the same party would win both branches of
government.


5. (C) In response, poloff emphasized that strong
democracies are inherently tolerant of differing viewpoints,
pointing to the current balance of power between two parties
in the U.S. system. Poloff also stressed that long-term
delays in holding legislative elections would likely be
ill-received by the local population and could spark further
unrest.


6. (C) COMMENT. Diallo,s statements may simply be a
testing of the water on a diplomatic level. The Guinean
people are unlikely to accept a four-year delay in elections
and may well take to the streets in response. Diallo did not
specify whether these &tendencies8 were coming from civil
society or from within government. However, a possible
political tactic would be for certain National Assembly
members to quietly whisper the idea to others and then have
them voice it in order to see what the reaction is. PUP
members may be beginning to sense that they have much to do
to if they want to win support in the upcoming elections.
The argument that the government may be divided if different
parties win different offices demonstrates that further
exposure to democratic principles and practices is needed.


7. (SBU). Embassy officials at all levels will continue to
emphasize the importance of holding timely, transparent
legislative elections as an important component of a strong
democratic system. END COMMENT.
CARTER