PREVAL NEEDS A PUSH ON ELECTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001240

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: 07/17/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID HA
SUBJECT: PREVAL NEEDS A PUSH ON ELECTIONS

REF: A. SECSTATE 82617

B. PORT AU PRINCE 1133

C. PORT AU PRINCE 1134

PORT AU PR 00001240 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).


1. (C) Summary: Since post and Department first addressed
the issue of proceeding with indirect elections and
subsequent senatorial elections, post has determined through
consultations in Haiti that the indirect elections will not
produce a Permanent Electoral Council (CEP) in time for that
body to organize on-schedule senatorial elections. Post is
working to build consensus, first among the Core Group
members and then among key Haitian officials, for a set of
policies to unblock election preparations and ensure that the
senatorial elections occur as constitutionally mandated
before January 2008. In the interim, the GoH must not
sacrifice timely indirect elections, which are essential to
Haiti's decentralization process and general democratic
development. The international community and Prime Minister
Alexis are generally supportive of our platform, and all
agree that we should bring the issue directly to the
attention of President Preval. End summary.

Getting From Here to There
--------------


2. (U) Both indirect elections and senatorial elections are
in jeopardy, according to elections experts at MINUSTAH and
USAID. The GoH's original objective was to complete indirect
elections, thereby establishing a permanent CEP, early enough
so that the permanent CEP could organize senatorial elections
in November or December 2007. (Note: In French, the
permanent electoral council and the provisional electoral
council share an acronym, CEP, referring to "conseil
electoral permanent" and "conseil electoral provisoire." End
note.) With indirect elections stalled as the current CEP
awaits the passage of a new law governing the process (ref
C),the GoH needs an alternative way to move forward with
senatorial elections before the terms of 10 senators expire
in January 2008. Bearing in mind the three months the CEP
says they need to complete indirect elections and the three
months of preparation needed by MINUSTAH to help the CEP
organize senatorial elections, the GoH cannot wait until the
indirect elections are complete before beginning the
senatorial election cycle.

Director General is Key
--------------


3. (C) Counselor Victor Benoit, serving as interim director
general, has a poor track record, having taken five months to
conduct run-off races for just five percent of local and
municipal seats. Most recently, Benoit announced to MINUSTAH
elections expert Marc Plum that he will fire most employees
from the communal and departmental election offices (French
acronyms BEC and BED) effective August 1. These employees
are charged with organizing indirect elections, and by firing
them Benoit is further delaying the process. Benoit is
unhappy with Preval's disregard for the CEP and has
threatened to ''go into hibernation,'' according to Plum.
President Preval has the authority to name a new director
general to head the electoral bureaucracy who could run the
indirect elections while simultaneously preparing for the
senatorial elections. Additionally, a new nine-member
council (or the same council with a renewed mandate) is
necessary to certify senate results. It is within Preval's
power to accomplish these steps.

Core Group Approaching Consensus
--------------


4. (C) The Core Group ambassadors met on July 5 to discuss
the pending senatorial and indirect elections. The
Ambassador presented the above concerns about senate
elections, indirect elections and the creation of a permanent
CEP, emphasizing that we can move separately on the two sets
of elections without linking or sequencing them.
Representatives of Canada, Brazil, France, Argentina, the EU

PORT AU PR 00001240 002.2 OF 002


and the UN were generally supportive of our position.
Canadian Poloff added that the GoC does not have any
confidence that the current CEP and DG are competent to run
the senatorial elections, and that the populace could
question those results given the CEP's perceived ineptitude.
The group agreed to raise the elections issue with Preval,
beginning with a written communication prior to an in-person
meeting with the Core Group ambassadors.


5. (C) The Ambassador spoke with Ambassador Boucher (Canada)
on July 10, who said he would prefer to ascertain President
Preval's stance on elections before submitting a written
document from the Core Group. Ambassador Boucher was
resistant to putting any pressure on Preval before speaking
with him personally, but agreed that a written communication
might be useful afterward. Boucher agreed to raise the issue
with Preval in their July 11 meeting.

PM Weighs In: Appoint a New DG
--------------


6. (C) Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis told the
Ambassador on July 16 that he is very concerned about
upcoming elections, and he has already recommended to
President Preval that he appoint a new CEP DG. Alexis also
recommended to Preval to move immediately to push a new
elections law through Parliament. Alexis assured the
Ambassador that the GoH is committed to holding elections for
one-third of the Senate by the end of the year, and recalled
that he and Preval had been in the unfortunate situation of
governing with less than a full senate during Alexis' first
term as PM (1999-2001). The Ambassador emphasized that the
elections are of great importance to the international
community, especially those providing election funding, to
which Alexis replied that we should bring our concerns
directly to Preval's attention.

Getting the Message to Preval
--------------


7. (C) Comment: Bearing in mind the timelines, the
senatorial elections must move forward independent of the
indirect elections. Timely completion of indirect and
senatorial elections is a crucial step in bolstering the
establishment of constitutional democracy and reinforcing the
Preval government's legitimacy. To that end, we are seeking
to unify the Core Group around this issue and to codify that
position in writing. We are working with the UN elections
office and the Canadian Embassy to finalize the text of a
non-paper to present to Preval prior to a face-to-face
meeting. Despite his public statements, Preval has not taken
any action to keep elections on track. Our goal is to make a
strong presentation of our position to Preval because we are
not confident that he will make the necessary preparations on
his own.
SANDERSON