LESPWA STILL FAR FROM TRANSFORMING INTO A

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001678 SIPDIS SENSITIVE 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: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA SUBJECT: LESPWA STILL FAR FROM TRANSFORMING INTO A POLITICAL PARTY REF: A) PORT AU PRINCE 1593 B) PORT AU PRINCE 808 PORT AU PR 00001678 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please protect accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) Summary: Lespwa's efforts to transform itself into a viable political party have yet to show tangible results. Lespwa remains a coalition of two regional political parties and two rural organizations. The leadership,s outreach to its constituent organizations to merge them into a unified political party has yet to bear fruit. The group has yet to identify candidates for Senate elections. Lespwa,s dependence on President Preval as a leadership figure -- after the President, at least publicly, has removed himself from partisan politics -- has had negligible effect. End Summary. ¶3. (SBU) PolCouns and PolOff met with Lespwa Stering Committee member Anes Lubin on September 2. Lubin reported that an ad hoc committee has ben formed to discuss merging the two parties andtwo regional organizations that currently cooperte under the Lespwa banner into a single political party. That committee is currently drafting propsed party by-laws and a political platform. Lubn claimed President Preval continues to support espwa, and that Lespwa fully supports the Presidnt's proposed plans to delay senatorial electionsand reform the constitution (ref A). The Lespwa leadership believes that the President was correct to cut his ties with Lespwa and govern the country above partisan politics. Lubin said the future of Lespwa depends on collective leadership rather than the charismatic leadership of an individual. Despite previous claims to Poloff by Lespwa steering committee member (and Minister of Parliamentary Relations) Joseph Jasmin that there is internal resistance to making Lespwa a political party (ref B),Lubin claimed that the relationship among Lespwa's four coalition organizations is solid and that there is no resistance to merging them into a political party. ¶4. (SBU) Lubin declared that Lespwa is eager to participate in the 2007 Senate elections and confident it will win the majority of seats. However, it has yet to decide on candidates to run and will not field a candidate for the West Department. (Note: Lespwa Deputy Patrick Domond from Jacmel told Poloff Lespwa may support some Fanmi Lavalas candidates in upcoming elections. We speculate that the West Department may be one such case. End note.) Lubin warned, however, that Lespwa is cautious about the prospective elections due to the unresolved status of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) (ref A). Lubin said Lespwa believes the mandate of this CEP does not extend to running the next set of Senate elections. He said that a new CEP must be formed that reflects the relative strength of political parties in recent elections and that gives Lespwa strong representation. ¶5. (SBU) PolCouns noted that many political parties seemed to exercise little discipline over their representatives in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Lubin strongly disputed this was the case with Lespwa, asserting that Lespwa senators and deputies act in full coordination with the party leadership. (Note: Of the ten Lespwa senators, only four act as a bloc. In the Chamber, Deputies form ad hoc coalitions for each vote, rarely along party lines. End note.) Lubin quickly shifted the conversation to the strong support he claims Lespwa enjoys in Haiti. He pointed with pride to Lespwa's strong results in the legislative, municipal and local elections. He also claimed that Lespwa currently enjoys substantial support from the "masses" and grassroots organizations. (Note: There is some press-radio commentary claiming that the Lespwa banner is no longer the powerful mobilizer it once was, and that it may be losing ground in some areas to Lavalas. End Note.) ¶6. (SBU) Comment: Despite strong representation in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Lespwa continues to suffer from the lack of strong leadership, a role once filled by presidential candidate Preval. Lespwa nonetheless continues to try to shore up its support by clinging to the PORT AU PR 00001678 002.2 OF 002 Presidential bandwagon and supporting the President's dilatory approach to elections and the CEP. Progress toward drafting organizational statutes and a political platform -- indispensable elements for constructing a political party -- continues to be slow. Without a strong push from the current leadership on internal organization and programmatic definition, Lespwa will continue to drift. SANDERSON