HAITIAN ELECTIONS AWAITING PREVAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001533

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: 09/17/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: HAITIAN ELECTIONS AWAITING PREVAL

REF: A. PORT AU PRINCE 1451

B. PORT AU PRINCE 1344

PORT AU PR 00001533 001.2 OF 002


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


1. (SBU) Summary: The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)
and the office of the Prime Minister are awaiting the order
from President Preval to put in motion the elections for
renewal of one-third of the Senate, as well as the indirect
elections that will complete the decentralization process and
result in the formation of a permanent CEP. One presidential
advisor claims the President has made a final decision on the
timing of elections, but his Chief of Staff and the Prime
Minister say otherwise. Meanwhile, relations between the CEP
and the Executive are growing increasingly strained. The
level of concern among the international community is varied,
but Post is working to gather the principal donors to present
to President Preval a united message calling for immediate
action. That meeting with Preval is tentatively scheduled
for September 18. End Summary.

Mixed Signals from Presidency
--------------


2. (C) Fritz Longchamps, Chief of Staff to President Preval,
told PolCouns on September 10 that Preval is still
deliberating over the elections. True to his character of
making decisions by consensus, Preval has formed two
commissions to advise him on the matter. (Note: One
commission concerns the Senatorial elections, the other the
indirect elections. The commission on indirect elections,
led by Minister in Charge of Parliamentary Relations Joseph
Jasmin, has existed since early July (ref B),but the Senate
commission is new. End note.) Longchamps insisted that the
President is determined that Senatorial elections will be
held in a way that 1) respects the constitution, 2) upholds
political stability, and 3) is logistically feasible. When
reminded time is running short, Longchamps coolly reiterated
that the newly-elected third of the Senate would take office
on the constitutionally-mandated second Monday in January.


3. (C) Presidential advisor Gabriel Verret gave a different
story to WHA/CAR Office Director and Poloff on September 4,
declaring that Preval has decided to hold indirect elections,
thereby forming the permanent CEP, prior to holding elections
for one-third of the Senate. This runs contradictory to
Prime Minister Alexis' comments to the Ambassador on August
28 that Haiti would have senatorial elections in 2007 and
indirect elections in 2008 (ref A). Neither the office of
the President nor the office of the Prime Minister has made a
public announcement of such a decision.

CEP: We're Waiting on Preval
--------------


4. (SBU) Acting CEP Director General Francois Benoit told
PolCouns and Poloff on September 12 that he sent a letter to
President Preval in late August asking for a decision on the
date for Senate elections. Benoit said the letter emphasized
the need to remain within the boundaries of the Constitution
by holding elections before January 2008. The President has
not responded.


5. (SBU) Benoit stated the current CEP has both the
competence and the experience to manage the senatorial
elections, but they need the official order from the
Executive. Benoit suggested the President could draft and
present to parliament a law empowering the current CEP to
manage the Senate renewal elections. (Note: The current
mandate of the provisional CEP does not include authority to
manage the election for the renewal of one-third of the
Senate. That power belongs to the permanent CEP - a body
formed through the indirect elections that have yet to be
held. End note.) Benoit said the CEP needs 150 days from
the time Preval announces elections in order to execute them,
making it technically impossible to finish elections by the
constitutionally-mandated date.


6. (C) Benoit underscored the political importance of these

PORT AU PR 00001533 002.2 OF 002


elections, asserting that political actors in Haiti wishing
to take control of the CEP are pressuring Preval to delay
indirect elections. Benoit claimed Preval wants to please
everyone at once, even if it means flouting the Constitution
by holding off on elections. He considers Preval's
commissions examining the future of elections and the CEP
nothing but a stalling tactic. Appearing resigned to failure
of the CEP's managing the coming election cycle successfully,
Benoit said he has no political ambitions and would be happy
to leave his post at the CEP if asked, as the costs of the
job outweigh the benefits. He said, ''If they want me to
leave, I'll go.''


7. (C) MINUSTAH's Chief of Electoral Assistance, Marc Plum,
reported to Poloffs a conversation he had with Benoit on
September 11 in which Benoit stated that the GoH lacks the
political will to hold indirect elections under current
circumstances. He blamed this on the President's political
party, L'Espwa, which he said is worried local elections will
result in local and municipal assemblies controlled by the
opposition, which, in the follow-on sequence of indirect
elections, would then produce an opposition-friendly
permanent CEP. Having suffered from difficult relations with
the current provisional CEP, Benoit believes that Preval's
tactic is to stall for time and set up the provisional CEP
for failure by withholding finances and refusing to give
adequate notice of the election date.

UN Deputy SRSG: Revive the Non-Paper
--------------


8. (C) Deputy SRSG Luis Carlos da Costa told Poloff on
September 13 that he was anxious to revive the non-paper
drafted by Embassy for Core Group ratification (ref B). His
plan was to resend the draft to the Core Group for final
approval before submitting it to Preval. He agreed that key
Ambassadors should meet with President Preval as soon as
possible on the subject of elections. (Note: After hearing
from the Prime Minister on August 23 that senatorial
elections would take place in 2007 and the indirect elections
in 2008, SRSG Mulet decided the non-paper was irrelevant,
according to MINUSTAH's elections team. End note.)

MINUSTAH: Finger-Pointing Abounds
--------------


9. (SBU) Plum said the CEP was proposing November 25 or
December 9 for the senatorial elections. A second round of
elections would follow. According to Plum, this means that
Haiti ''will not have a functional Senate before February.''
Plum emphasized the key role of President Preval in moving
elections forward. He said Preval's two most important tasks
concerning elections are issuing an official decree fixing
the date of Senate elections, and extending the mandate of
the Provisional CEP to authorize them to organize those
elections. Instead of making a decision, Preval has set up
the two commissions to consider the indirect and the Senate
elections (see Note, para 2).


10. (C) According to Plum, the Prime Minister was highly
critical of the CEP in a September 6 meeting with MINUSTAH.
Alexis derided the CEP's proposed elections law, calling it
''anything but serious,'' and added that the CEP was the
''fundamental problem'' behind the elections impasse.


11. (C) Comment: Electing new senators by the
constitutional beginning of their term in January 2008 is now
highly unlikely. Despite Verret's dubious comments, it
appears Preval has not yet made a firm decision on timing for
either indirect or Senate elections. In the meantime,
acrimonious relations between the CEP and the Executive
inhibit constructive dialogue between the two. Francois
Benoit is defensive and clearly feels under attack,
regardless of Preval's true feelings toward the provisional
CEP. Ambassador, along with her Canadian, Brazilian and
French counterparts, will meet with Preval September 19 to
impress on him the importance of holding elections by their
constitutionally mandated deadlines.
SANDERSON