CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY RACE BEGINS

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 001039 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS BOGOTA PLEASE PASS TO D PARTY, STATE PLEASE PASS TO USOAS AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: TEN YEARS TAGS: PGOV PREL EC SUBJECT: CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY RACE BEGINS REF: A. QUITO 768 ¶B. QUITO 957 Classified By: PolOff Erik Martini for reasons 1.4 (b&d). ¶1. (U) This message contains an action request for DRL and WHA/USOAS. See para 18. ¶2. (SBU) Summary: With national constituent assembly elections officially announced for September 30, Rafael Correa's undiminished popularity makes his Alianza PAIS movement the party to beat. Although polling information is still sparse, the Ecuadorian public clearly has unrealistically high expectations about what the Assembly is likely to accomplish. Legal complexities and uncertainties continue to dog the process. Key unresolved issues are related to the apportioning scheme that will apply to the vote, and whether the Assembly will use its unlimited power to dissolve Congress or circumvent it by enacting its own laws while in session. ¶3. (C) With democratic institutions already weak and damaged, most Ecuadorians are comfortable with the high risks of the assembly process as a chance for change. USG democracy interests will be supported by close electoral monitoring through the OAS mission and/or civil society organizations to promote an informed electorate and the most plural assembly possible. End Summary. Election Process Underway ¶4. (U) The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on April 24 convoked Assembly elections for September 30. The TSE has published signature gathering regulations and the 45 day period for gathering candidate signatures opened on May 5 and will close June 18. In a break with past practice, the TSE ruled that eligible voters may support with signatures as many candidates as they are eligible to vote for. For example, a voter from Pichincha province may sign the rosters of up to 24 national and 14 provincial candidates. (With a total of 130 assembly seats to be elected, 24 are elected nationally, 6 from abroad, and 100 seats are divided among the provinces based on population.) ¶5. (U) Voting and vote counting procedures will be complicated by the expected plethora of candidates from which to select. If, as was the case during the 2006 congressional election, 17 political parties or movements were to present slates of candidates, in Pichincha province voters would select up to 38 Assembly members from among lists of 408 national candidates and 238 provincial candidates. After a period of legal challenges, sometime in August the 45 day campaign period would open, ending shortly before elections on September 30. Under the electoral statute, public financing will be provided to guarantee candidates equal access to the media--private financing is banned. All Eyes on Alianza PAIS ¶6. (U) Major polling firms have not yet tested the assembly election waters, since parties and movements have not yet announced and registered their candidates. However, a recent telephone poll by a lesser known firm put Alianza PAIS ahead in every province, capturing anywhere from 48% to 38% of voter preferences. The poll predicted that Alianza PAIS would win 84 seats in the 130 member Assembly. (Note: Under the Assembly statute only 66 votes are needed to pass any measure.) The respected CEDATOS/Gallup firm on April 24th showed President Correa's national approval rating at 76%, up from 69% before the April 15 referendum; negative opinions of Correa's performance were at only 17%. Major Problems Still Unresolved ¶7. (C) The TSE has yet to define the "proportional" method of apportioning Assembly seats. Minister of Government Gustavo Larrea told the Ambassador on May 2 that the government has requested that the TSE depart from Ecuador's traditional system of proportional representation by prohibiting voting by lists and implementing a "winner take all" system. TSE International Affairs Chief Jose Teran told PolOff on May 4 that the issue would be decided in the coming week. ¶8. (C) Eliminating voting by party list (i.e. checking a box by the party logo instead of checking each individual candidate name or splitting one's votes between different party lists, all of which was permitted in the last election) would favor candidates with the greatest name recognition. Dropping proportional representation would greatly strengthen the position of the party winning a plurality in the Assembly, currently expected to be PAIS. Voting by party list is most prevalent in poor districts where voters who are less aware of candidate names choose the convenience of voting by party. ¶9. (C) The electoral statute provides the Assembly with "full powers to transform the institutional framework of the State and elaborate a new Constitution." This conceptual construct leaves room for interpretation, fueling debate over whether the Assembly would have the authority to immediately dissolve Congress and other democratic institutions. President Correa has generally avoided comment on whether the Assembly would dissolve Congress, except to deny that he intended to do the same. MinGov Larrea has been less circumspect, publicly asserting that the Assembly's unbounded power would extend to acting immediately to reform existing institutions, rather than waiting until the new constitution is approved by referendum. Most political actors, including some in the Correa administration, privately predict that an Assembly with a pro-government majority would dissolve Congress as a matter of course. ¶10. (C) On May 4 TSE International Affairs Chief Jose Teran showed PolOff a proposal received by the TSE for consulting services from a group of political and election experts in Caracas. He has been instructed to evaluate it and make a recommendation to the TSE President. Teran showed PolOff a competing bid by IFES, which would have a better chance of winning, he said, if it were the low bidder. Teran said a decision would be made by the TSE this week. Candidates Emerging ¶11. (SBU) With parties and movements still settling on their candidate lists and beginning to gather signatures, few national candidates have yet captured the public eye (Ref A). Some failed presidential candidates, (Leon Roldos from the RED movement and Gilmar Gutierrez of the PSP likely among them),are expected to mount credible campaigns for the national seats. PRIAN leader Alvaro Noboa is not expected to run. Patriotic Society Party leader Lucio Gutierrez is still barred from running-- but his brother Gilmar is expected to head the PSP ticket. Democracy activists such as Humberto Mata, Cesar Montufar and Mae Montano have told EmbOffs that they will run for the national Assembly seats, presenting alternatives to the traditional parties and Alianza PAIS. ¶12. (SBU) Current and former Congressional deputies who have not been affected by the Congress dispute, such as RED deputies Martha Roldos and Dolores Padilla, will also likely step down from Congress to run. Most of Alianza PAIS's well-known figures are already in government, and would also have to step down from office to run. Correa's relatives are interested in joining the bandwagon, with brother Fabrizio and sister Pierina initially forming a party with the acronym "RCD" (Citizen Revolution in Democracy--also the president's initials). Apparently they did not check with their brother beforehand. When press criticized the move, Correa publicly disavowed it and the RCD was stillborn. ¶13. (U) An upcoming area of likely controversy will be the TSE's ruling on legal candidates. Many fear that potentially SIPDIS strong opposition candidates could be found technically in violation of enrollment and certification requirements, as the system does not currently provide a creditable and transparent process for these decisions or appeals. Electoral Observation Efforts Needed ¶14. (U) The OAS and others are already embarked upon or planning election observation efforts. A perennial fraud concern is that partially marked ballots could be filled in fraudulently by corrupt local election officials. This concern is amplified by the large number of candidates and the likelihood that many voters will only mark the few candidates that they recognize among the sea of candidates they do not. The signature requirement, campaign spending limits, a complex quick count, qualification challenges, and a contentious campaign all offer potential for conflict. ¶15. (C) Citizen Participation (PC),Ecuador's premier electoral watchdog with the largest election day observation coverage (3,000 volunteers in 2006, compared to approximately 150 from the OAS),hopes to mount a broad election monitoring effort for the Assembly to address these problems. Unfortunately, USAID lacks funding to support such an effort. USG funding to the OAS could offer an alternative funding source, if the OAS is willing to share funds by contracting PC to organize the quick count. Others hope the EU might chip in with an observation mission of its own, as in the 2002 elections. The British DCM in Quito told DCM on May 2 that there is little consensus within the EU Missions regarding support of observation efforts, but the EU might be persuaded to contribute to the OAS EOM. The Carter Center has been invited by the GOE to open an office to help monitor the elections and assist the Assembly. Comment and Action Request ¶16. (C) Despite persistent political theater involving a disputed Congress (Ref B),the Assembly will have free rein to reform the Ecuadorian state once it takes office in October. With President Correa riding high in public opinion, early handicapping points to Alianza PAIS winning a dominant share of the Assembly delegates. Eliminating proportional representation would further consolidate PAIS dominance. With the traditional party opposition on the ropes after failing to delay the elections, there is limited room for new faces and movements to offer alternatives to PAIS' blind support for Correa's (still undefined) institutional change agenda. ¶17. (C) Given the Assembly's inevitability, USG democracy interests include a fair, transparent and inclusive election process, resulting in a more legitimate and representative Assembly. Though this would offer no guarantee of preserving other USG interests that could be affected by the Assembly's actions, USG support for the OAS mission, PC and other non-partisan civil society groups, would help ensure a result more likely to lead to democratic stability here, which has been elusive in recent years. ¶18. (C) Action Request: We recommend the Department contribute to the OAS election observation mission and consider urging EU governments to contribute to OAS efforts in what will be a contentious and complex election. The OAS should be encouraged to collaborate with national observers to broaden its quick count coverage. We also request the Department consider allocating democracy contingency funding to take advantage of targets of opportunity to make the Assembly election and Assembly functioning more democratic. The immediate opportunity we see would be to partially fund IFES' proposed technical assistance to the TSE, making it competitive with the Venezuelan competition. Post will email the IFES proposal to DRL and USAID. JEWELL