FRANCOPHONIE ELECTION EVALUATION MISSION VISITS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LOME 000257

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

PARIS FOR D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL TO
SUBJECT: FRANCOPHONIE ELECTION EVALUATION MISSION VISITS
TOGO


1. (SBU) Summary: A technical evaluation mission from the
Intergovernmental Francophone Agency (Francophonie),led by
Nelson Messone, called on Ambassador on March 28 and shared
observations of the political situation in Togo in the run up
to legislative elections scheduled for June 24. The group
noted that the National Electoral Commission (CENI),while
spirited, is weak in technical execution of its work. Messone
indicated that they would recommend that Francophonie provide
training in election reporting to the Togolese media. End
Summary


2. (U) A Francophonie technical evaluation mission from
Paris, led by Nelson Messone from the Office of the Secretary
General, along with counselors Ntole Kazadi and Mohamed
Traore, called on Ambassador on March 28 and shared
observations of the political situation in Togo in the run up
to legislative elections scheduled for June 24. The mission
has consulted widely, calling on members of the donor
community, government ministries, political parties,
journalists and members of civil society. The mission is
assessing what election assistance the Francophonie will
provide. They indicated that they would probably provide
training to the media.

The CENI


3. (SBU) The team noted that the CENI (Independent National
Election Commission) has a positive spirit but seems weak.
They lack a precise plan for their activities. The donor
community is prepared to make major contributions to support
the election, but the CENI has not yet produced a firm
budget. Several months ago a fire damaged their computer
system, and they have not fully recovered from the loss. A
new election law was passed recently putting into effect the
changes to the election process that were agreed in the
Global Political Accord signed last August. The CENI has not
yet produced a text of regulations to implement the law. The
CENI has much to accomplish before June 24 and needs to pick
up the pace. The Ambassador agreed that the CENI has good
ntetios but hs two main problems - coming to decisions
among themselves and coordinating their efforts with the GoT
ministries involved with the elections. The CENI would
rather go to Burkina President Blaise Compaore for a decision
on a difficult election issue than wrestle with the issue and
make a decision themselves. The slowness of the
decision-making process creates the risk of technical
problems being politicized. The donor community is trying to
mitigate that risk by pushing on the CENI to meet their
commitments, but in the end, it is up to the Togolese.

The electorate


4. (U) Messone noted that the body politic seems peaceful.
There is some preoccupation about election security, but
Messone said he sensed a certain good will on the part of the
government. The mission was willing to give the GoT the
benefit of the doubt in terms of their intentions to hold a
good election.

The opposition parties


5. (SBU) The principal opposition party, the UFC (Union des
Forces de Changement) seemed ambiguous about the whole
election process. They played hard to get when the National
Dialogue group was formed and are hedging their bets at every
turn. They bargained hard in reaching the Global Political
Accord, which they signed in August 2006, but they have
refused to participate in the Government of National Union.
With their lack of engagement in the election process, they
are missing an opportunity to energize their members to
participate in the elections. The UFC wants some election
observers to come from foreign militaries. There were French
and West African military observers in Togo for the 1998
elections, and their presence deterred the Togolese military
from interfering with the election process.


6. (SBU) The other major opposition parties, the CAR (Action
Committee for Renewal) and CDPA (Democratic Convention of
African Peoples),are participating in the Government of
National Union and in the elections. They feel somewhat
uncertain about the integrity of the registration process
using the computer kits borrowed from the DRC. Both parties
are concerned with election security. They know the system is

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not perfect, but they are of good will and are moving ahead.
The Ambassador commented that although opposition party
members are members of the CENI and have considerable control
of the process, the old fear of being tricked in the election
process persists.

The media


7. (SBU) Messone and his group commented on the lack of
professionalism among the press corps. Messone said he would
recommend to his headquarters that they provide training to
the press in election coverage. The Ambassador agreed that
this kind of assistance would be useful and noted that the
Embassy has conducted several seminars and held programs to
attempt to raise the standard of political reporting by
Togolese journalists.


8. (SBU) Comment: The Francophonie team's observations match
post's assessment of the pre-election situation. For the
first time in many years, the UFC has a chance to share power
in governing Togo, but the party's leadership has been
indecisive and prefers to play politics rather than engage.
The CENI is weak and seems to need the push it is getting
from the donor community to get voter registration and
elections on track. There is in all likelihood too much work
still to be done to have an election by June 24, but no one
is talking about a new date just yet. Post predicts that a
new election date will be announced after the GoT has a
better idea of how long it will take to deploy the voter
registration kits and organize balloting. The current
Assembly's mandate expires in October, and we believe that
September represents a hard deadline. End Comment.
DUNN