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.

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MORE ON CANCELED ODIHR MISSION
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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.

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OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Observers Prepare for Sunday
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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