ELECTORAL COUNCIL MEMBERS DEFEND THEIR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001683

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: 10/17/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: ELECTORAL COUNCIL MEMBERS DEFEND THEIR
ACCOMPLISHMENTS

REF: A. PORT AU PRINCE 1649


B. PORT AU PRINCE 1133

C. PORT AU PRINCE 1533

D. PORT AU PRINCE 1624

E. PORT AU PRINCE 1682

PORT AU PR 00001683 001.2 OF 002


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


1. (C) Summary: The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP)
continues in office despite public announcements that
President Preval is seeking to form a new provisional
council. Six of the CEP's nine counselors claim to be
willing and capable of managing both the indirect elections -
part of their original mandate - and the reelection of
one-third of the Senate, for which they would need a revised
mandate. Despite the current CEP's poor track record,
forming a replacement council at this point would likely
further delay the senatorial and indirect elections. Under
threat of losing their jobs, these counselors believe that
this is part of a presidential scheme ultimately to foist a
populist constitution upon Haiti. We do not find this
accusation credible. End summary.

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''We've done a great job so far...''
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2. (C) The GoH has not, to date, disbanded the current
Provisional Electoral Council (CEP),notwithstanding Minister
of Parliamentary Relations Joseph Jasmin's October 10
announcement of the council's dissolution (ref A). The
Secretary General of the Presidency distanced the GoH from

SIPDIS
Jasmin in an October 12 statement, claiming Jasmin was
speaking in his role as Lespwa steering committee member, not
his official ministerial position. Prime Minister
Jacques-Edouard Alexis amplified this point October 12,
stating that the GoH has not/not dissolved the CEP, and that
CEP counselors can continue with their mission in the
meantime. In a press release dated October 10 signed by six
of the nine CEP counselors, the council recounted the series
of successful elections the CEP managed over its two and a
half year tenure and denounced the Executive's decision to
delay elections further by forming a new provisional CEP.
CEP President Max Mathurin, Vice President Freud Jean,
Treasurer and Acting Director General Francois Benoit,
Secretary General Rosemond Pradel, and counselors Josefa

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Gauthier and Pauris Jean Baptiste all signed the note.
Counselors Patrick Fequiere, Louis Gerson Richeme and
Pierre-Richard Duchemin ''continue to form a separate group
and are obviously disassociated from this demarche,''
according to the letter.

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''...and we can keep going...''
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3. (C) The same six-counselor faction met with PolCouns and
Poloff October 12. They said the CEP has received no direct
communication from the Presidency or the Prime Minister's
office since the October 9 meeting at the Palace with
political party leaders (ref A). CEP President Max Mathurin
explained that they are still dedicated to finishing their
2005 mandate by completing the indirect elections. He
reviewed the steps the CEP has taken to keep elections on
track, citing their May 25 presentation to the Executive of a
proposed law governing indirect elections (ref B) as well as
their August 17 letter to Preval asking the President to
address the CEP's mandate and set a date for senatorial
elections (ref C). CEP member Josefa Gauthier estimated that
forming a new provisional CEP would take six months to a
year, delaying elections far beyond the constitutional
deadline. Secretary General Pradel recommended that the
President simply extend the mandate of the current CEP to
include the Senate elections. Pradel said it is not too late
to ''rescue'' the current council and prevent an indefinite
delay of elections. The counselors vowed to explain this
option publicly on the next business day, October 15 (Note:
As of October 16, they had not done so. End note.)

PORT AU PR 00001683 002.2 OF 002




4. (C) The counselors dismissed as ''pretexts'' President
Preval's rationale for replacing the CEP - primarily the
charges of internal division and corruption. According to
Mathurin, the counselors have received no written
notification from either the Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC) or
the office of Chief Prosecutor Claudy Gassant outlining
charges against them. Mathurin called the allegations a
''phantom report.'' Pauris Jean-Baptiste strongly disputed
claims that divisions between CEP counselors would prevent
them from successfully executing elections: the CEP functions
by majority decision, and the six counselors in that majority
were capable of managing elections regardless of the position
of the other three. The three absent counselors (equiere,
Richeme and Duchemin),he said, do nothng but show up to
claim their paychecks. (Note:Though the six-counselor
majority is known to hae serious internal conflicts, they
have vigorousy banded together in the face of the likely
loss f thir jobs. Their assessment of the three
reclcitrant CEP members is, to our mind, overly generus.
Fequiere, in particular, has proven troublesme. End note.)

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''...but first let us explain theconspiracy.''
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5. (C) Secretary General Pradel presented a theory -
seconded by the other counselors present - that Preval's
decision to form a new CEP is part of a larger scheme to
remake the Constitution in a populist spirit. In pursuit of
this goal, Preval had not allowed the provisional CEP to
conduct indirect elections, which by now would have installed
the decentralized government structure outlined in the 1987
Constitution and culminated in the selection of a permanent
CEP. In order to ''get rid of'' the CEP, Preval instigated
the allegations of corruption brought forth over the last 14
months. However, Pradel recalled, the Superior Court of
Accounting and Administrative Disputes (CSCCA) in June 2006
had ruled the allegations unfounded. Political parties,
churches, civil society and the private sector now recognized
Preval's game and were coming to the defense of the CEP.
Preval's second step was to let the re-election of the Senate
slide so that one-third of the Senate will not be renewed on
time, resulting in a defunct Senate and National Assembly, at
which point Preval would be in a position to oversee drafting
a new constitution without parliamentary oversight. Pradel
imputed to the President the ultimate goal of installing a
populist constitution in Haiti in imitation of the Chavez
model in Venezuela.


6. (C) Acting CEP Director General Francois Benoit
reiterated previous comments (ref D) that this ''invasive
infringement of the independence of the CEP'' is only the
first step in a downward spiral toward dictatorship. Benoit
said Preval would do just enough to placate the international
community, but only to buy himself time to continue
conspiring to control future elections and rewrite the
Constitution.


7. (C) Comment: We do not subscribe to the more extreme CEP
view of a President with dictatorial or populist motives. It
is nonetheless undeniable that the President has managed
events surrounding the CEP to the point that holding Senate
elections on time is just about impossible. The irony is
that the current CEP is indeed dysfunctional and ineffective.
Its success in past elections was due to its more able
director general of that period. However, in the interest of
salvaging the senatorial elections, the CEP is finding
support among some political parties and other social groups
(ref E). We cannot endorse theories that Preval engineered
this entire chain of events in order to write a new
constitution, but the fact remains that Haitian elections -
for one-third of the Senate and indirect elections for local
government institutions - have yet to be scheduled.
SANDERSON