PREVAL NEARS COMPROMISE ON CEP; PRIVATE SECTOR TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 001752

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PASS NSC FOR FISK
WHA PASS USOAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2014
TAGS: HA PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: PREVAL NEARS COMPROMISE ON CEP; PRIVATE SECTOR TO
NOMINATE FORMER DG JACQUES BERNARD

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


1. C) Sources both within the Presidency and without have
told us that a compromise is near on the reformation of the
Provisional Electoral Council. If true, this would permit
President Preval to name a new council and set the date for
Senatorial elections, ending an impasse that has preoccupied
Haiti's political elites for the past month. Preval told
Ambassador October 31 that he wants to get this issue out of
the way so he can move forward on constitutional reform. He
reiterated his commitment to holding senatorial elections as
soon as possible after the formation of a new CEP.


2. (C) Following a series of negotiations and posturing too
convoluted to go into here, the private sector has agreed to
meet on Saturday, November 4, to name two candidates for its
"slot" in the CEP. At the top of the list is former CEP DG
Jacques Bernard. Current CEP private sector member Francois
Benoit is also likely to be included. Benoit, who saw Preval
yesterday, will turn the nomination down, but for form's
sake, the private sector wants him on the list. Preval's
counselors have told us that Preval is prepared to
immediately name Bernard CEP Director General (and chief
organizer of elections),and may make him a CEP member as
well. There is no prohibition against a member also serving
as DG.


3. (C) Bernard is the key here. He was the DG of the CEP
that managed all three of Haiti's recent national elections
for the presidency, legislature and local government. Most
observers believe that his participation is critical to the
credibility of any new CEP. Originally reluctant to return
because he believed that Preval had "reservations" about him,
Bernard was assiduously courted by a series of envoys from
the presidency and the private sector, as well as by Haiti's
friends in the international community. Skeptical that
Preval is serious about elections, Bernard pressed his
interlocutors hard for guarantees that the elections will go
forward, guarantees that were apparently offered by the
Palace. He meets with Preval early next week.


4. (C) Presidential Counselor Gabriel Verret tells us that
once the private sector submits its names, other Haitian
sectors will fall into place. He says that the church and
unions have already committed to offer candidates. In the
meantime, Preval continues to meet with representative of the
parties and religious communities, and last night caucused
again with representatives of AMCHAM and the private sector.
He has canceled his trip to Miami for dental surgery, telling
intimates that resolving this problem is too important to be
left pending.


5. (C) Comment. Despite getting Bernard on board (no mean
feat),Preval is not out of the woods. Until the CEP is up
and running, and Bernard is able to resuscitate the structure
that the current Director General spent the last three months
dismantling, elections are still a ways off. Getting Bernard
to agree to return, if this indeed materializes, is a plus
but not the only challenge Haiti faces. The brouhaha over
the elections and the CEP has again laid bare the societal
and political differences which are never very far from the
surface here. Preval - and the Haitian political elites -
will need a surer hand than we have seen thus far to manage
these divisions during any future debate on the more
treacherous issue of constitutional reform.
SANDERSON