Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MOSCOW5453
2007-11-19 16:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Moscow
Cable title:  

ODIHR BOYCOTT CONTINUES TO RESONATE

Tags:  PREL KDEM OSCE RS 
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VZCZCXRO0197
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHMO #5453 3231650
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 191650Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5355
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 005453 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017
TAGS: PREL KDEM OSCE RS
SUBJECT: ODIHR BOYCOTT CONTINUES TO RESONATE

REF: MOSCOW 5433

Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 005453

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017
TAGS: PREL KDEM OSCE RS
SUBJECT: ODIHR BOYCOTT CONTINUES TO RESONATE

REF: MOSCOW 5433

Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d).


1. (SBU) Summary: ODIHR'S November 16 announcement that it
would not send election monitors to Russia's December 2
parliamentary elections was the subject of incredulous GOR
commentary over the weekend. The Central Election Commission
(CEC) saw in the decision confirmation of the GOR's standing
contention that ODIHR must be reformed. An MFA statement
seconded the CEC, and placed the blame for cancellation on
the "muddled" work of ODIHR. Kremlin-connected politicians
like Duma International Affairs Commission Chairman Kosachev,
echoed the MFA, while those in the opposition welcomed
ODIHR's decision to stay home on election day. End summary.


2. (SBU) ODIHR's November 16 announcement that it would not
send election observers to Russia's December 2 parliamentary
elections, given the GOR's "unprecendented restrictions"
seemed to shock GOR representatives, who reacted angrily to
news of the election boycott. In addition to harsh
statements from the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the
MFA, CEC member Igor Borisov alleged that in canceling,
"principles of political expediency" had trumped
"international democratic standards." Borisov disputed the
ODIHR contention that visa issuances had been delayed, and
argued that the boycott would have no legal consequences for
the integrity of the Duma elections. Duma International
Affairs Chairman Konstantin Kosachev termed ODIHR's decision
"politicized, opportunistic, and biased." CIS
Inter-parliamentary Assembly General Secretary Mikhail Krotov
alleged that the elections would be "normal" with or without
ODIHR whose work, in any event, was inferior to that of PACE,
which would be sending observers. Just Russia and Federation
Council Chairman Sergey Mironov minimized ODIHR's decision,
noting that "life would go on," even if they did not come.


3. (C) Members of the opposition disagreed. Union of Right
Forces Chairman Nikita Belykh thought that GOR obstructionism
was designed to compel ODIHR to pull its observers. Party
confederate Boris Nemtsov saw in ODIHR's refusal evidence
that Russia was "turning into Turkmenistan or Belarus."
Mercator President Dmitriy Oreshkin, although his firm has a
lucrative contract with the CEC, accused the Commission of
being "a few months late" in inviting the observers.
Ex-Prime Minister and likely presidential candidate Mikhail
Kasyanov called ODIHR's decision "well founded." In an
November 19 conversation, Center for Political Evaluation
President Aleksandr Konovalov thought it was "better" if the
observers did not come. Their presence, he thought, would
provide a figleaf of legitimacy to an election whose result
was a foregone conclusion.


4. (SBU) The November 17 - 18 RTR television news quoted
Kosachev and noted that other international organizations,
like the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, would be on hand
to observe the elections. The more independent REN-TV did
little more than chronicle the facts of the case. The
November 19 national daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta featured an
editorial that called the GOR's unprecedented steps against
ODIHR counterproductive.

Comment
--------------


5. (C) The reaction that followed ODIHR's surprise decision
not to field observers for the Duma elections was along party
lines. Those affiliated with the Kremlin's number one party,
United Russia, were eager to blame ODIHR. Those in opposition
were as anxious to finger the GOR.


6. (C) With ODIHR's boycott, efforts are reportedly being
made to increase the size of the PACE mission, but it is
likely that the final number of PACE delegates will be
negligible and the elections in the end will be watched by a
comparative handful of international monitors. At the polls
as well, however, will be thousands of domestic political
party representatives, journalists, and some NGOs that will
have been taken under the wing of political parties or
accredited as journalists. Their presence throughout the
country will ensure that an imperfect spotlight will be
turned on the process, at least on election day. Even without
their contribution, the campaign abuses have received much
media attention, and it is unlikely that any more or less
impartial monitoring body will be able to label the Duma
elections free and fair. It is all the more ironic, then,
that the mandate for Putin all of that electoral manipulation
has been designed to ensure would probably have emerged even
if the election had come closer to meeting the OSCE's
standards.
BURNS