FOUNDER OF INDEPENDENT WASIT PARTY WORRIES OVER

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001422 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2018 TAGS: PGOV IZ SUBJECT: FOUNDER OF INDEPENDENT WASIT PARTY WORRIES OVER ELECTIONS Classified By: PRT Team Leader Rob Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Wasit reporting cable. ¶2. (C) On May 3 PRT met with Dr. Magid Rahman Abdullah al Ta'ae, founder of the Wasit Independent Rescue Committee, at FOB Delta. Dr. Magid's "technocratic" Independent Rescue Committee will field candidates for the 2007 Provincial Council elections, and is filling out the necessary party registration materials this month. He complained about the situation being stacked against independents and expressed worries about funding. End Summary. ¶3. (C) Magid opened the meeting by complaining about the financial challenges facing his party. The IRC had just raised the 25 million ID necessary to register as a party through contributions from individual members; 10 members paid 1 million apiece, with the remaining amount coming from smaller individual donations. Magid said the increased registration fees (more than triple the 2005 amount) were a barrier placed on independent participation imposed by the religious parties. While the registration fee can be refunded if a party does well at the polls, Magid also worried that officials will raid the deposit for various perceived electoral infractions, including mentioning the party name on election day, receiving "outside support," or tearing down posters belonging to other parties. Asked about the Wasit Independent High Electoral Commission, Magid asserted that Wasit IHEC tends to favor ISCI. ¶4. (C) "The parties are trying to crush us," Magid said. "They are trying to block open lists, or impose a kind of semi-open system." He predicted that the law would allow people to vote for individual candidates or simply "pull the lever" for a party or slate and that this system would naturally favor parties. Magid described the parties as "dizzy" and "scrambling to find a way to hold on to power," and predicted the parties would bring in technocrat candidates to make themselves more attractive to voters. Magid claimed that he himself had been approached about joining the slate of an unnamed party. "The party told me, 'We will pay the ID 25 million fee.' They offered to help pay for advertisements. We totally refused. But it is very expensive to advertise, and we do not have a budget for that." ¶5. (C) The successful technocrat candidate, per Magid, will be one who combines relevant professional expertise (e.g., medicine or engineering) with a strong local connection. Perhaps not coincidentally, Dr. Magid is a veterinarian with deep roots in al Kut. The "Rescue" party claims to be open to anybody. "We have a Sunni, a Christian, even a Sabean," Magid said. Asked how the PRT can best support voter education efforts, Magid retorted that "I can give you a list of 150 NGOs in Wasit, and if you give them money, all 150 will put it in their pockets." (Note: Magid did identify one charity, serving widows and orphans, as deserving of support. End note.) He also criticized the PRT's suggestion to use professional syndicates to disseminate voter education information. "They all have party alignments, and they are all small," Magid said. ¶6. (C) Comment: Magid's frustrations and concerns reflect the challenges facing independent parties in the upcoming provincial elections. Magid rightly identifies widespread dissatisfaction with religious parties, but may be unrealistic in hoping that this will translate into seats for "technocrats." While it is difficult to assess Majid's prospects, he is deemed enough of a comer to have obtained a brief audience some months back with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and a longer meeting with Sistani's son Reda; he is vague about numbers but claims to regularly pack a meeting room with supporters; and he was able to raise the ID 25 million registration free in a single day, all factors indicating some measure of seriousness. End Comment. CROCKER