PAKISTAN ELECTIONS OBSERVERS

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 004832

SIPDIS

SIPDIS, SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN ELECTIONS OBSERVERS


1. (U) This is an action request, please see para 3.


2. (SBU) Summary. President Musharraf announced November 11 that
Pakistan's parliamentary elections will be held by January 9. With
imposition of a state of emergency, post believes it is more
important than ever to increase the number of election observers and
is requesting that DRL provide the International Republican
Institute (IRI) with the funds required to add another ten long-term
and six short-term observers to its Pakistan mission. Post has
requested IRI field another public reaction poll as soon as
possible. Ambassador November 10 demarched the Minister of Interior
on behalf of IRI, The Asia Foundation and several arrested Pakistani
human rights lawyers. End Summary.


3. (SBU) President Musharraf announced November 11 that Pakistan's
parliamentary elections would be held by January 9. Post will
continue to work to persuade the GOP to lift the state of emergency,
restore access for all media, and release detained political
opposition leaders so that free and fair elections can proceed in
January.


3. (SBU) Post believes that, given current events, it will be more
important than ever to have the maximum number of independent
election observers. Action request: We request that DRL provide IRI
with the additional funds required to increase the number of
long-term observers from 12 to 22 and short-term observers from 40
to 50 (three of which should be able to be funded out of DRL's
current grant because IRI will not be conducting an exit poll as
originally planned). IRI would send the additional observers to
cover key districts in the Punjab heartland where we believe the
highest instance of possible fraud will occur. IRI/Pakistan
believes this is the correct mix of long-term and short-term to
ensure that the overall observer mission is informed and effective,
particularly to cover these key constituencies. IRI/Pakistan
estimates an additional US $450,000 will be needed to fund this
addition.


4. (SBU) Post has also requested that IRI field another poll as
soon as possible to take the public temperature on reactions to the
State of Emergency and how it is affecting support for political
leaders. IRI/Pakistan advises us they plan to start the poll next
week.


5. (SBU) Ambassador met November 10 with Interior Minister
Sherpao. She raised USG concern about the arrest and treatment of
several Pakistani civil society leaders, including attorneys Aitzaz
Ahsan and Munir Malik, as Members of Congress have expressed concern
about their welfare. Ambassador also asked Sherpao to intervene to
ensure that IRI, which had received a letter from the Economic
Affairs Division advising them to leave the country, would be
allowed to stay and oversee our elections observation mission.
Ambassador also asked Sherpao to intervene in favor of The Asia
Foundation local director Jon Summers, who has been advised his visa
had been cancelled. Sherpao said he had no information about IRI or
TAF but would look into the cases and get back to us. He assured
the Ambassador that Ahsan, Malik and others were being treated
properly, were receiving required medications and could receive
visits from relatives.

PATTERSON