TURKMENISTAN: WITH NO INVITATION, UN PONDERS ROLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 001379 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM UN TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: WITH NO INVITATION, UN PONDERS ROLE DURING PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS Classified By: Charge Sylvia Reed Curran for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: UN representatives are pondering their options in regard to the organization's potential role during the December parliamentary elections. They believe that Turkmen government officials are expecting them to participate in some way, although UN offices here have not received a formal invitation to observe the elections. Given UNDP's ongoing electoral reform program, the most likely choice may be an electoral assessment team, which would not observe the elections per se, but would assess the propriety of the election process and evaluate what Turkmen officials have learned from the program. Like others in the international community here, UN officials are convinced that it may be too soon for Turkmenistan to host international election observers. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Resident UN officials and their visiting counterparts from New York were pondering their options October 16 for engagement with the Turkmen government during the December parliament elections. Deputy Resident UNDP Representative Inita Paulovica talked with Asia and Pacific Affairs Chief Jehangir Khan during a UN reception about the options that UNDP has for engaging the Turkmen on the elections. She said that Turkmen officials have not sent an invitation to UNDP to observe the elections, but in recent meetings they seem to be operating under a presumption that they have invited UN representatives to play a role. ¶3. (C) The UNDP just finished the first phase of its election reform project, which focused on teaching international standards regarding the process of conducting elections. The project has available funding and provisions that would allow for an associated election assessment team to come to Turkmenistan and assess the degree to which Turkmen officials properly manage election processes. She said this would allow UNDP to bring in election experts to evaluate the success of the project's initial phase, while also enabling them to see what goes on inside polling stations. But the team would not have to engage in true election observation or produce a shared report. ¶4. (C) An election assessment team would be small, perhaps two or three people, and would draft a report assessing Turkmen officials' adherence to international election procedure standards, Paulovica said. The report would be produced for the UN's use and would not be made public or shared with the Turkmen government. Anything more robust, such as a true monitoring team, would be more problematic, and UN officials appeared to be less enthusiastic about such an option, although it has not yet been excluded. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: It appears the UN contingent is just beginning to consider its options for the December elections. Like OSCE, it is most likely to send a team that will get it the most bang for the buck while avoiding true election observer activity, which UN representatives see as premature at this point, since Turkmenistan still has a ways to go to reach international standards. News that the UNDP office has not received an invitation to send election observers is surprising, given the standing that the UN always seems to have with the Turkmen government. END COMMENT. CURRAN