Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PORTAUPRINCE1566
2007-09-25 16:11:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

SENATORS PITCH ELECTORAL "PAUSE" AND EXTENSION OF

Tags:  PGOV HA 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001566 

SIPDIS

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DEPARTMENT PASS TO UNDER SECRETARY BURNS' PARTY IN NEW YORK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2017
TAGS: PGOV HA
SUBJECT: SENATORS PITCH ELECTORAL "PAUSE" AND EXTENSION OF
TERMS WHILE OPPOSITION BEGINS TO EMERGE IN POLITICAL
PARTIES; PREVAL REMAINS FIRM

REF: PORT AU PRINCE 1546

Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson, reason 1.5(b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001566

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PASS TO UNDER SECRETARY BURNS' PARTY IN NEW YORK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2017
TAGS: PGOV HA
SUBJECT: SENATORS PITCH ELECTORAL "PAUSE" AND EXTENSION OF
TERMS WHILE OPPOSITION BEGINS TO EMERGE IN POLITICAL
PARTIES; PREVAL REMAINS FIRM

REF: PORT AU PRINCE 1546

Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson, reason 1.5(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Ambassadors from the US, Brazil, Canada and
France met with the President of the Senate and his
colleagues to discuss his proposal for an "electoral pause"
which would put Haiti's electoral calendar on hold while
allowing for constitutional reform. Lambert argued that the
proposal would end the heavy burden of elections every two
years and bring stablity to political institutions, while
lifting a heavy financial burden. My colleagues and I pushed
back hard, arguing that the proposal was destablizing and
could undermine Haiti's nascent democracy. At the end of the
meeting, Lambert acknowledged that the Parliament would also
have to consider the alternative: a return to the electoral
calendar. President Preval, however, remains strongly
committed to the program. He told me that he believes it to
be critical to Haiti's future and he refused to be swayed by
suggestions that his proposal might call into question the
legitimacy of his own goverment. As a result, the elections
proposal remains on the table, and we expect Preval will
continue to try to convince the international community that
it is workable and necessary. . Lambert, for his part,
appears to have taken on board some of our concerns. End
Summary.


2. (C) Senate President Joseph Lambert convoked the
ambassadors of the "election quartet" (US, Brazil, Canada and
France) the afternoon of Septmber 24 to present formally the
proposal for an "electoral pause" which would put Haiti's
electoral calendar on hold while allowing for an overhaul of
the country's unwieldy constitution. The propsal would also
give all senators a 6 year mandate, whether they had been
elected to one or not. (Currently, terms are staggered with a
third of the Senate having terms of two, four or six years
respectively.) Lambert, accompanied by the executive board of
the Senate, political allies from his home region of Jacmel
and other interested senators, argued that the
constitutionally-mandated electoral calendar places an

enormously expensive burden on Haiti's fragile democracy. As
he did in our bilateral meeting (reftel),he said that the
busy electoral calendar was divisive and difficult to manage.
He contended that stability was essential to Haiti's ability
to address the key challenges of institutional development,
building capacity within the political system to deal with
Haiti's many problems, particularly those which are economic
in nature, and instilling confidence among the Haitian
people. Lastly, he argued that consitutional reform was key
to Haiti's future and would head off "dictators."


3. (C) My colleagues and I pushed back hard. While
acknowledging the many problems inherent in the 1987
constitution, we contended that freezing the electoral
calendar would undermine the democratic gains made in the
past two years. It could call into question the legimitacy
not only of the Preval government but also of the Parliament
itself. Undertaking constitutional reform at this point was
risky and likely divisive -- and not inherently necessary to
warding off dictators. That role should fall to strong
political institutions and populations invested in, and
confident of, the democratic political process. There was, we
remarked, no obvious link between extended senate mandates
and constitutional reform. We also took note of the optics
of such a step; at a time when the country is attempting to
encourage investment, changing the rules of the game
politically would have a negative influence on possible
investors. Such a drastic step, we suggested, would demand
the strong support and engagement of the political classes as
well as the Haitian people; as of yet, we saw no evidence of
a grand political coalition developing to support this
proposal. Lastly, we rebuffed the plaints of Lambert's
colleagues that the elections were too expensive to hold,
noting the continued strong support, both political and
financial, of the international community for the electoral
process.


4. (C) Lambert, who is a shrewd political animal, deflected
some of more self-serving colleagues. He said that he would
mull over our points; as friends of Haiti our views were
critical in his thinking. He noted that consulations with the
political parties are ongoing and would continue for some
time. (Also an issue of concern that we raised, noting that a
protracted consultation process was in of itself disruptive.)
He stated that he would consider a fall back position of

PORT AU PR 00001566 002 OF 002


returning to the electoral calendar, with Senate elections on
tap first, and would revisit the issue of the CEP's legal
status. The unamity of opinion on the proposal among the
ambassadors appeared to surprise Lambert, but he welcomed the
exchange.


5. (C) In the meantime, opposition to this proposal is
mounting within the political parties. Representatives of
Fusion, terming themselves as "true democrats", decried the
proposal at length in a conversation last night and claimed
it would open the door for abuse of the political process.
The OPL and Union parties reportedly have also rejected the
proposal. Human rights activist Yanick Lahens was equally
unhappy, although she acknowledged that the country had to
address the flawed constitution sooner rather than later.
Interestingly enough, although Haiti's political class is
aware of the idea of an "electoral pause", and although the
idea is just beginning to percolate into the press, it has
yet to spark a broad national discussion.


6. (C) Subsequent to the drafting of above, I spent 20
minutes with Preval as he prepared to depart for New York. He
remains strongly committed to the proposal, calling it
essential to Haiti's future, and sought our support and
understanding. Preval, who had been briefed on our meeting
at Parliament, expressed disappointment with the preliminary
reaction of the international community. He suggested that
the parliamentarians focused on the issue most important to
them: the extension of the senatorial mandate. The real
issue is the constitution, the president said. Haiti simply
cannot afford, either financially or politically, to maintain
the electoral schedule laid out in the constitution. The
rolling schedule of elections was dysfunctional, expensive,
and, by definition, destablizing. He expected no personal
gain from this proposal, he would not stay on past the end of
his term. But the country could ill afford to keep having
elections every two years. That cycle neither fostered
democracy nor institution building; instead, it keep
political parties, parliament and the population in a state
of pepetual electoral fever. Haiti has democratically
elected leaders now; the democratic process is well and truly
launched here. But, the president argued, its development and
reinforcement is symtied by the constitution, a document
which he reminded me is not manna from heaven.


7. (C) Comment. Based on our conversations over the past
few days, Lambert appears to inching away from the election
pause proposal. The president, however, remains strongly
attached to it. He reiterated to me that he will have a
political consenus to support the revision of the
constitution and electoral moritorium, although that
contention is not yet borne out by available evidence. Preval
sees this proposal as "his" legacy (effectively giving lie to
his comment that this was really a Lambert initaitive) and
will be hard to shake from his convinction that putting
elections on hold while a new consitution is sorted out will
actually enhance Haitian stability. Our meeting with Lambert
led the Election Quartet to believe that the proposal would
die a slow death. Preval is committed to seeing that doesn't
happen, however, and he is a stubborn man with a mission. We
should expect this idea will continue to come at us in
various forms for some time as the president searches for
ways to bring the international community into the Haitian
political debate on his side.
SANDERSON