OPPOSITION IN "FUSION" TO ELECTIONS FREEZE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001593

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR, DRL, S/CRS, INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PAS AID FOR LAC/CAR
TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL HA
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION IN "FUSION" TO ELECTIONS FREEZE

REF: A) PORT AU PRINCE 1566 B) PORT AU PRINCE 1546

Classified By: Ambassador Janet Sanderson. Reason: E.O. 12958 1.4 (b)
, (d)

Summary
- - - - - - - -


1. (C) Officials from ''Fusion,'' which otherwise supports
President Preval, are strongly opposed to Preval's plan to
freeze elections for several years and extend the terms of
all Senators to six years. They are still expressing their
opposition privately -- both to Embassy officials and to the
President directly. They are reluctant to challenge the plan
publicly, since the President has yet to publicize the plan,
and since they fear that to do so could endanger government
unity and overall political stability. President Preval
continues to bide his time, saying nothing in public about
his grand plan to freeze elections and change the
constitution, saying only that he wants elections held under
''good conditions'' while his chief prosecutor impugns the
integrity of the very election commission that must organize
them. End summary.

Fusion Against Election Freeze
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


2. (C) When Senator Lambert presented this plan to the
Ambassador September 21 (ref B); he was accompanied by
several Senators, apparently attempting to give the
impression that he had the Senate behind him. This appears
not to be the case. One of the Senators present, Senator
Rudolph Boulos (Fusion, Northeast) told Poloff on September
26 that a majority of senators -- including Senate Vice
President Edmonde Supplice Beauzile and several 2-year
senators up for reelection -- do not support the Lambert
plan. Boulos said he fully supports Senate elections by the
end of 2007, and cautioned that Haiti will have a
''parliamentary crisis'' if elections are put on hold. He
stated that the ''illogical'' plan of Senate President
Lambert is actually designed to create such a crisis, so that
Preval can then more easily change the constitution. Boulos
said Preval developed the plan himself and then ''put it in
Lambert's head and asked him to move forward with it to test
the waters.''


3. (C) The leadership of Fusion, the second largest grouping
in the legislature after the pro-Preval ''Lespwa,'' is taking
its case directly to the President but not going public. In
a September 27 meeting with PolCouns and Poloff, Fusion
Chairman Serge Gilles and Fusion activist Mischa Gaillard
said they adamantly opposed the plan of Preval and Lambert to
freeze the election cycle and promulgate a new or revised
constitution. The plan was based on pretexts that the
Provisional Election Commission was corruption-ridden and
that its mandate had expired. Both issues could be addressed
without shelving elections for years. While the 1987
constitution indeed has many difficulties, it could be
amended according to procedures contained in the constitution
itself. They had outlined their opposition to this plan
directly to President Preval in a September 23 meeting. They
claim Preval ''backtracked'' somewhat. When asked why they
did not take their party's opposition public, Gilles and
Gaillard replied that Haiti's political stability remained
fragile.

President Preval: Elections Only Under ''Good Conditions''
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


4. (U) President Preval has yet to unveil his plan to the
public. In a September 25 airport press conference before
departing for New York and UNGA, Preval stated his position
on elections: they must be held in ''good conditions'' and
on the basis of ''consensus'' so that the results are
generally accepted as ''legitimate.'' The President said he
was engaged in broad ''consultations'' to help bring about
this consensus. He referred to ongoing investigations about
misuse of funds by certain counselors in the Provisional
Electoral Commission (CEP) as a further obstacle to
conducting elections soon.

PORT AU PR 00001593 002 OF 002




5. (C) Officials of Lespwa, the electoral grouping that
supported Preval in his campaign for the presidency,
vigorously support Preval's public position on elections.
Anes Lubin of Lespwa's steering committee, in a September 26
meeting with PolCouns and Poloff, echoed the themes of
consensus and legitimacy as imperatives that overrode the
issue of constitutional deadlines. Accompanied by Mario
Coffy and Jenna Joseph of the PLB (Parti Louvri Barye - Party
That Opens the Gates, a component party of Fusion) all
inveighed passionately against the corruption within the CEP
that President Preval had pledged to fight. They also
underscored that the mandate of the current CEP had expired.
These Lespwa officials argued that the CEP had to be rebuilt
so as to adequately reflect the fact that Lespwa was the
largest political grouping in Haiti.

Comment
- - - - - - -


6. (C) Fusion's hesitancy to challenge Preval and Lambert
openly arises out of considerations for Fusion's larger
political future. Fusion fears that coming out in public
against this plan could provoke a rift with Preval and the
rest of the government. Haiti has yet to develop a tradition
of loyal opposition. Being in the opposition in Haiti means
being shut out of influence and power. Fusion wants to
remain an influential member of Preval's informal coalition
government, and wants Preval to continue to trust them and
reach out to them for guidance. Gilles and Gaillard also
believe their strategy is working, since Preval allegedly
''backtracked'' in their meeting with him. We have not yet
confirmed their belief that Fusion parliamentarians and other
major political parties share their view. In any case,
President Preval is keeping his grand plan out of the public
eye for now. It has yet to leak to the media to any
substantial extent.
SANDERSON