Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ABIDJAN337
2008-05-28 14:14:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abidjan
Cable title:  

OBSERVANCE OF NOVEMBER 30 ELECTION DATE FEASIBLE

Tags:  KDEM PGOV PREL EAID IV 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5052
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0337/01 1491414
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 281414Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4254
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEPGDA/USEUCOM JIC VAIHINGEN GE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000337 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/28/2018
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PREL EAID IV
SUBJECT: OBSERVANCE OF NOVEMBER 30 ELECTION DATE FEASIBLE
BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN

REF: A. ABIDJAN 290

B. ABIDJAN 192

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Silvia Eiriz for reasons 1.4 (b/d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000337

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/28/2018
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PREL EAID IV
SUBJECT: OBSERVANCE OF NOVEMBER 30 ELECTION DATE FEASIBLE
BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN

REF: A. ABIDJAN 290

B. ABIDJAN 192

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Silvia Eiriz for reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (SBU) Summary. AF/W Director Thomas Dougherty held
meetings in Abidjan May 15-16 with representatives from
across Cote d'Ivoire's political spectrum. His conversations
indicate that the political will exists to observe the
scheduled November 30 election date and that it is
technically feasible to do so, if all parties respect the
current electoral calendar. However, ensuring security for
the election and clarifying the relationship among the bodies
responsible for organizing it, remain challenges. End
Summary.

Political Will Exists
--------------


2. (SBU) All political actors and parties told Dougherty that
they want the November 30 date for presidential elections to
be respected. Pascale Affi N'Guessan, President of the
governing FPI party, said his party has an interest in
holding elections since the public blames it for the
country's problems even though it is not effectively in
control of the current power sharing government. Opposition
PDCI party elections point person, Mamadou Bamba, told
Dougherty that the PDCI would understand a delay in the
election to complete ongoing identification and voter
registration, but would have difficulty accepting a delay
because the government had failed to even begin these
processes. Opposition RDR also expressed strong desire to
hold elections this year, but had concerns about publication
of the electoral lists in enough time for the parties to
comment.


Identification and Voter Registration Must Begin Soon
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Ambassador Boureima Badini, Representative of the
Facilitator of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement (OPA),
told Dougherty that the November 30 date can be met as long
as the identification process begins by June 10. Independent
Electoral Commission (CEI) President Robert Beugre Mambe said
reconstitution of destroyed civil registries, necessary to
permit many to obtain the birth certificates needed to
register to vote, would begin the week of May 19 and run

through mid September. (Comment: Constitution of the civil
registries began on May 21. End comment.)


4. (C) N'Guessan expressed reservations about the technical
capacity of French company Sagem, which will produce the
voter registration and national identity cards. He
reiterated the FPI view that Cote d'Ivoire's INS (Institut
National de la Statistique) is fully capable of registering
voters and speculated that Sagem's lack of experience could
negatively impact the process. Badini assured Dougherty that
Sagem is capable of carrying out its work by November 30.
Several interlocutors expressed concern that Sagem had not
begun its work because it had not received payment from the
government. Badini noted, however, that Sagem has already
brought in its kits. (Note: The government paid Sagem an
initial tranche of 10 billion CFA on May 27, that should
originally have been paid in April but still owes 10 billion
CFA promised by the end of May.)


5. (C) RDR expressed its frustration with what they perceive
as efforts by Minister of Interior Tagro to add bureaucratic
delays to producing the electoral lists. According to the
RDR, Tagro wants to compare the 2000 electoral lists with the
names on the workers' list for social security benefits. The
RDR representative commented that "nationality should be
determined by law and not by a list." RDR also underscored
the fact that tension still exists over the issue of
Ivoirite, implying that Tagro wants to ignore or discount
this issue.


Roles of Electoral Bodies Unclear
--------------


6. (C) Both Mambe and Badini expressed concern that the
government may not provide sufficient funding to the CEI to
enable it to effectively carry out its mandate. N'Guessan
told Dougherty that the FPI is worried about the CEI's
neutrality since most of its members are aligned with the
political opposition, adding that the FPI will use its
representatives on the CEI to ensure its actions are
transparent and objective. Badini confirmed to Dougherty

ABIDJAN 00000337 002 OF 002


that approximately eighty percent of the CEI's members are
affiliated with the opposition political parties.


7. (C) It is still not clear how Sagem and the National
Institute of Statistics (INS) will work together (See
Reftels). The President's FPI party remains reluctant to
accept that the INS, which the political opposition accuses
of being partisan, will not have a supervisory role over
Sagem. N'Guessan told Dougherty that charges that the INS
favors the FPI are unfounded since only two INS officials
were appointed by President Gbagbo. Mambe told Dougherty that
he had convened several meetings with Sagem and INS to hammer
out the details of their working relationship. This remains
unresolved and could create a stumbling block for meeting the
soon-to-be tight timeline for elections.


Security Is A Concern
--------------


8. (C) One of the five elements of UNOCI's framework for
election certification is a secure environment during the
period leading to the election that will allow full
participation of the population and the candidates.
N'Guessan told Dougherty that he is less worried about
election security than about Sagem's technical abilities.
However, the PDCI and RDR representatives expressed identical
concerns about insecurity in the west hampering the electoral
process in that region. Bamba said transparent elections are
not possible if armed groups supporting a particular
political party continue to exist. He added that since voters
have historically been impeded from going to the polls in the
west, the PDCI wants measures enacted to prevent this from
happening.


9. (C) Badini told Dougherty that Prime Minister Soro has
agreed to meet with the militias, adding that Soro needs an
incentive to convince them to disarm. Badini said there have
already been incidents where the public's access to local CEI
offices has been blocked and that he believes there will be
attempts to prevent citizens from registering to vote. Mambe
said he would meet with the military leaders of the army, the
New Forces, and UNOCI as well as with the Minister of Defense
to discuss electoral security.


Need International Observers
--------------


10. (C) Mambe and Badini called for the presence of
international observers and urged that they arrive early in
order to monitor the process leading to election day. Mambe,
who told Dougherty that he would like former President Jimmy
Carter to come, said the observers should be present during
the process of challenges to the electoral list. Badini told
Dougherty that, while the election will generally be an open
one, it won't be one hundred percent transparent. He said
the OPA Facilitator will have an arbitration role during the
election process and advised that his office will set up a
unit to coordinate with the United Nations Operation in Cote
d'Ivoire (UNOCI).

NESBITT