ELECTION MONITORING REPORT CITES VIOLATIONS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000133

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KMPI BA POL
SUBJECT: ELECTION MONITORING REPORT CITES VIOLATIONS,
DEFENDS OUTCOMES, IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.

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Summary
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1. (C) The NGO Joint Election Monitoring Committee (JEMC)
issued its report February 10 on the recent parliamentary
elections. The report does not clearly acknowledge that the
elections were free and fair and enumerates many violations
of the election law. However, it also states that the
Committee had uncovered no tangible evidence of the
government rigging election outcomes, despite many
accusations. Spokespersons said Bahrain's electoral
constituencies were not drawn in accordance with the
principle of "one man, one vote," and the use of general
polling stations, where any eligible voter could cast a
ballot, was criticized. However, the Committee judged that
election outcomes would not have been different had the
general centers been abolished. Opposition political
societies expressed their dissatisfaction with the report, in
particular the assertion that the general centers had no
impact on election results. JEMC members had signaled their
views for some time, and there were no surprises in the
report. The Committee appears to have set the bar very high
on what constitutes evidence of government intervention,
perhaps hoping that a more positive report would encourage
the government to implement its recommendations before the
next elections in 2010. End Summary.

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Many Violations, But No Evidence of Rigging
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2. (SBU) The Joint Election Monitoring Committee, composed
of the (MEPI-funded) Bahrain Transparency Society (BTS) and
Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS),issued its report on the
late November/early December parliamentary elections on
February 10. At a press conference for the report release,
BTS President Jassim Al Ajmi and BHRS Secretary General
Sabeeka Al Najjar said that the report enumerates many
violations of Bahrain's election law by candidates and
election officials and makes 32 recommendations for improving
the next round of elections, in 2010. The report does not
clearly acknowledge that the elections were free and fair
but, with regard to the many accusations of government
rigging of election outcomes, Al Ajmi said that the JEMC had
uncovered no tangible evidence supporting the allegations.
He denied that the Committee had come under pressure from the
government to issue a favorable report.

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Constituencies, General Stations Problematic
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3. (SBU) Al Najjar identified the large differences in the
size of electoral districts as a fundamental problem not in
accordance with the principle of "one man, one vote." She
pointed out that, according to official statistics, there
were 1,175 eligible voters in the fifth constituency of the
Southern Governorate while there were 15,449 eligible voters
in the first district of the Northern Governorate. "This
means," she said, "that the ballot of a voter in the fifth
constituency of the South Governorate is the equivalent of
13.15 votes in the first constituency of the Northern
Governorate."


4. (SBU) The report is critical of the ten general polling
stations, at which voters registered in any district could
vote. It acknowledges that several political societies and
independent candidates had sent petitions to the Supreme
Election Committee and the Minister of Justice requesting
that the general polling stations not be used. It also
recognizes that many candidates alleged that the government
used the general stations to rig outcomes. "We do not have
tangible evidence" that this happened, Al Ajmi said, and he
asserted that getting rid of these centers would not have
changed the outcome of any races. However, in order to
promote transparency and public trust, the report recommends
that the general stations be eliminated.

MANAMA 00000133 002 OF 002



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Broad Recommendations to Improve 2010 Elections
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5. (SBU) Of the report's 32 formal recommendations, changing
the constituencies and closing the general polling centers
attracted the most attention. Other recommendations include:

- developing a new law covering elections, to supersede the
2002 law and its 2006 revisions;
- forming an independent election commission;
- providing detailed voter lists to candidates;
- allowing candidates to stand for election in any district,
regardless of where they live;
- drafting a campaign finance law;
- permitting international organizations to monitor
elections; and
- empowering the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and the Sunni
and Shia religious endowments to prevent candidates from
using mosques for political campaigns.


6. (SBU) All six of the country's daily Arabic newspapers
covered the JEMC report and the press conference factually,
drawing heavily from Al Ajmi and Al Najjar's comments.
However, the two newspapers closest to the government, Al
Watan and Akhbar Al Khaleej, both ran headlines claiming the
elections were free and fair, a characterization not
substantiated in the report or by the spokespersons.

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Oppositionists Slam Report
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7. (SBU) Opposition political societies February 11 reacted
strongly against the report and, in particular, Al Ajmi's
claim that election results would not have been different had
the general polling centers been eliminated. Liberal,
secular Al Waad political society Secretary General Ibrahim
Sharif told the press that the report's assertion regarding
the general stations was "a joke." Activist (and BHRS board
member) Abdul Nabi Al Ekri wondered why the report did not
address allegations of the government's "political"
naturalization of foreign residents presumed to be loyal to
the regime during the run-up to the elections. Al Waad
member Ibrahim Al Dirazi complained that the report did not
adopt a decisive position on whether the elections were free
and fair, despite all the violations mentioned.
Consultations are reportedly underway among opposition
political societies to form a unified position on the report
and possibly to file a complaint with Transparency
International, with which the Bahrain Transparency Society is
affiliated.

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Comment
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8. (C) There were no surprises in the JEMC report or the
comments of Al Ajmi and Al Najjar. They had been signaling
since the elections that while there were many technical
violations of the election law, they had no evidence of
widespread manipulation of the results. It appears, however,
that the JEMC adopted a highly legalistic approach to judging
proof of government intervention in the election process, and
set a very high bar on what constitutes interference. There
are allegations that the government used votes cast in the
general polling centers to ensure that some pro-government
candidates won. In two tightly fought races, votes in the
general centers provided the required margin of victory. The
JEMC appears to have calculated that the impact of a positive
report would be more effective than a negative one in
encouraging the government to adopt some of its
recommendations for the next elections.


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