Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PORTAUPRINCE1133
2007-06-27 12:46:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

ELECTIONS LIMP FORWARD; CEP STALLING?

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM HA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7192
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1133/01 1781246
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 271246Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6399
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1564
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1383
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0826
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1237
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001133 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS LIMP FORWARD; CEP STALLING?

PORT AU PR 00001133 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas C. Tighe for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001133

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS LIMP FORWARD; CEP STALLING?

PORT AU PR 00001133 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas C. Tighe for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).


1. (U) Summary: Marking another delay to the pending
indirect elections, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)
submitted to the GoH in June a new law outlining elections
logistics that could make members of the current CEP eligible
for the permanent CEP. Beginning at the county council
(ASEC) level, a series of indirect elections will eventually
lead to the formation of a departmental council, which
nominates members for the permanent CEP. Indirect elections
will not begin until the law is passed, according to CEP
members. Regardless, preparations are slowly beginning for
these elections, and the OAS and MINUSTAH are also looking
ahead to the senatorial elections due by the end of the year.
The organizational timeline leaves little room for delay,
and makes it unlikely that these national elections will take
place on time. End summary.

New Elections Law
--------------


2. (C) The CEP has presented to the GoH a new law governing
the process of indirect elections. According to former CEP
director general Jacques Bernard, the CEP asked
lawyer/consultant Woldson Bertrand to draft a law that would
define rules governing the indirect elections and clear up
the contradictions that exist between existing texts that
treat indirect elections, including the 1987 constitution and
the 2005 electoral decree. At the moment the document is
still sitting with the GoH, but eventually they must present
it to parliament for ratification. (Note: Marc Plum, head
of MINUSTAH's elections unit, said that President Preval is
holding up the law because of the clause making
interdepartmental council members cabinet-level officials.
This provision is in the 1987 constitution, but Plum surmised
that Preval was previously unaware of it. End note.)


3. (C) According to OAS elections specialist Bernice
Robertson, the law changes the process for appeals and

challenges so that all final decisions are made at the
departmental level, instead of the national level. This
means that the provisional council has no involvement in the
appeals and challenges, and it was their involvement in this
process that prohibited them from being nominated for the
permanent council. Therefore, if the law passes the current
CEP members would be eligible for the permanent CEP.
Robertson hypothesized that CEP president Max Mathurin is the
member most likely to want to stay on the council, mainly for
the salary and benefits. Marc Plum seconded this opinion.

Elections Logistics
--------------


4. (U) In the first stage of the indirect elections, the 568
county councils (ASECs) vote for a representative from their
commune to go to one of the 140 municipal assemblies. (Note:
The law neither demands nor precludes that the elected be a
member of the ASEC. End note.) The municipal assemblies then
elect members to the departmental assemblies. Each of the 10
departmental assemblies nominates three people for the CEP.
From these 30 nominees, the three branches of government each
select three permanent CEP members to form the nine-member
council. The communal and departmental electoral offices
(French acronyms BEC and BED) are responsible for logistics
of the indirect elections. CEP president Max Mathurin told
Poloff on June 8 that that once the indirect elections begin,
the process will move ''quickly.''


5. (U) The CEP has not installed the county councils (ASECs)
even though the official decree is at the Palace awaiting
publication. The indirect elections have to begin within one
month of the installation of the ASECs, therefore the CEP
cannot install them before they are ready to begin indirect
elections, according to Mathurin.


6. (U) Robertson on June 20 told Poloff that the indirect
elections process could theoretically begin in July, starting
with a month-long training program for the communal and
departmental electoral offices. The course materials are

PORT AU PR 00001133 002.2 OF 003


ready and the trainers, who were also involved in training
programs for national elections, are prepared to begin. Once
the training begins, the entire process all the way through
the nomination of permanent CEP members should take three
months.

Elections Observers
--------------


7. (U) Robertson said that the International Institute for
Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) will observe the
indirect elections in the communes of Limbe, Saint-Raphael
and Cap Haitien. Max Mathurin told Poloff that ''there will
be international observers'' but did not elucidate how the
process would work. Jacques Bernard stated that the process
should be public so that anyone can watch.

Senate Elections
--------------


8. (U) One third of the current senators' terms will expire
at the end of the current session of parliament. An election
would need to take place no later than December 2007 in order
to have the new senators inaugurated in time for the January
2008 session, according to Marc Plum, head of MINUSTAH's
elections unit. Plum estimated that a permanent CEP would
need to be in place by October in order to organize December
elections. Considering the three month timeline, indirect
elections would need to run July through September. Plum
said this was not realistic given the work speed of the
current CEP, and stated that he and MINUSTAH have been
predicting for a long time that the senate elections will not
happen in 2007. In preparation for missing the timeline, CEP
interim director general Francois Benoit recently met with a
lawyer to discuss the possibility of the provisional CEP
managing the senatorial elections through a new electoral
decree, according to Plum. (Note: Post will report septel on
the progress of reopening voter registration for the national
elections. End note.)


9. (C) Jacques Bernard on June 18 told Poloff that the
provisional CEP is ''incapable'' of organizing the senatorial
elections, which as a national election requires that they
open all of the voting centers. He estimated that the
process would require 45,000 workers in the field. Bernard
also expressed concern about the CEP's ability to execute the
indirect elections. He stated that with good management, a
permanent CEP could be in place within 100 days, but cited
the CEP's record of ineptitude and inaction since his
departure in December 2006 as evidence that the process will
in fact take much longer.

MINUSTAH Support
--------------


10. (U) MINUSTAH will provide travel support to Francois
Benoit as he visits the 10 departments to help the communal
and departmental electoral offices prepare elections
logistics. However, the new MINUSTAH mandate has no
provision for elections work, and at the end of June all of
MINUSTAH's regional elections advisors are leaving their
posts. Regardless, Plum plans to continue working on
elections through his new role as chief of governance and
institutional support, and said that if necessary he can
recreate the old elections task force to coordinate civil,
military and police activities around elections.

Keep Our Jobs?
--------------


11. (C) Comment: There is little hope that the indirect
elections will be completed and a permanent CEP installed in
time for the new council to organize senatorial elections in
December. The timeline is tight, and the provisional CEP has
not proven itself expeditious. Additionally, the new law
still needs the approval of the executive and the parliament,
which is normally a time consuming process. Max Mathurin, by
all accounts, is very fond of his current job and would like
to hold onto it as long as possible. Under the current
electoral decrees, the provisional CEP will be dissolved once

PORT AU PR 00001133 003.2 OF 003


the indirect elections are finished; by delaying the indirect
elections, current CEP members maintain their positions. In
addition, their proposed legislation makes them eligible to
become permanent CEP members.
SANDERSON