DUMA ELECTION OBSERVER UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 005562 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2017 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL RS SUBJECT: DUMA ELECTION OBSERVER UPDATE Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reason 1.4 (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Ambassador November 26 told acting Foreign Minister Denisov that the USG had played no role in ODIHR's decision not to observe the Russian Duma elections. Denisov insisted that the Russian Embassy in Washington believed the USG had "tipped the scales" on the decision during ODIHR Chairman Strohal's visit to the United States. Parliamentarians of the OSCE, Council of Europe and Nordic Council have started to arrive in Moscow in advance of the December 2 Duma elections. Approximately 100 parliamentarians from all three organizations will observe the elections in seven cities throughout the country after being briefed by the representatives of the eleven registered parties, the Central Election Commission, and Duma Chairman Gryzlov. End summary. -------------- MORE ON CANCELED ODIHR MISSION -------------- ¶2. (C) On November 26, Ambassador met with acting FM Denisov and underscored that the USG played no role in ODIHR's decision not to send an observer mission. He told Denisov that ODIHR was forced to make the decision based on obstacles put in the way of the mission by the Central Election Commission. Denisov responded that the Russian Embassy in Washington had reported that the USG "tipped the scales" in ODIHR's decision-making which resulted in the cancellation of the mission. He called ODIHR's decision "abrupt" and noted that "some European colleagues" had also claimed to have supported even a limited ODIHR mission, and had been surprised by ODIHR's decision. -------------- -------------- OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Observers Prepare for Sunday -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Spencer Oliver, Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) November 27 told the DCM that 100 parliamentarians and staff of OSCE PA, the Council of Europe and the Nordic Council will arrive in Moscow this week to observe the Duma elections on December 2. (Note: No Members of Congress will participate.) The observers will be briefed later this week by the eleven parties that appear on the ballot in addition to Duma Speaker Gryzlov and Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Churov. The parliamentarians will then fan out over the weekend to seven cities: St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Rostov-na-Donu, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Yaroslav, and Nizhniy Novgorod. OSCE PA observers plan to contact our consulates for pre-election briefings. Oliver commented that his organization has had good contact to date with the CEC and that no restrictions had been placed on their activities. We recommended that the parliamentary observers meet with the NGO Golos, Transparency International, independent political activists and opposition politicians to round out their understanding of the pre-election campaign. The group will hold a press conference in Moscow on Monday, December 3. They have been monitoring Russian media coverage of the elections for the last two months as part of their observation efforts. ¶4. (C) Oliver told the DCM that ODIHR's Strohal had not consulted or informed him of the decision to cancel the ODIHR observer mission. He had learned the news while in Russia on his way to a meeting with FM Lavrov. Oliver said the GOR's decision to increase the number of OSCE PA observers was not taken in the wake of ODIHR's withdrawal, as the media had reported, but had been the result of earlier conversations with Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Kosachev and Deputy Speaker Sliska about the small number of observers (30) originally proposed by the CEC for his 55-country organization. BURNS