MAYSAN GOVERNOR'S ADVISOR TO BE SADRIST CANDIDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003673 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PINR IZ SUBJECT: MAYSAN GOVERNOR'S ADVISOR TO BE SADRIST CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR Classified By: PRT Team Leader Dan Foote for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is a Maysan PRT reporting cable. ¶2. (C/REL MCFI) Summary: Sadrist Zaid Khalaf al-Hoshi, Maysan Provincial Director of Reconstruction and Development and close advisor to the Governor, admitted to PRT Team Leader (TL) that he will be the Sadrist candidate for Governor of Maysan. He said he and his party - Kafaat al-Maysan or the Maysan Professionals - will run on a reconstruction/technocratic platform. Zaid also conveyed that both he and Maysan's Sadrist Governor Adel Mohder Maliki, who repeatedly has told the PRT he will not contest the gubernatorial race, have been offered positions in Prime Minister Maliki's administration following the elections. On election preparations, Zaid said all major political parties in Maysan have been authorized 100 representatives per party to observe polling stations throughout the province on election day. End Summary. I Will Be the Sadrist Candidate for Governor -------------- ¶3. (C/REL MCFI) Meeting with the PRT Team Leader (TL) at Camp Garry Owen on November 15, Maysan Provincial Director of Reconstruction and Development and Governor Advisor Zaid Khalaf al-Hoshi admitted - after considerable prompting - that he will be the Sadrist candidate for the Governor's race in Maysan. Zaid also informed TL that both he and Maysan's Sadrist Governor Adel Mohder Maliki have been offered positions with Prime Minister Maliki's administration following the elections. Zaid said Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Rafe al-Issawi's office had asked him to be GOI representative to Maysan. Pressed by TL whether he would serve in Baghdad or Maysan, Zaid responded his goal was to serve Maysanis, whether it was in Baghdad or Maysan, but he later commented that he thought he would be more effective as Governor. He joked that he had been nicknamed "Kissinger" for his ability to work with all political parties. Professionals Party to Represent Sadrists -------------- ¶4. (C/REL MCFI) Zaid said his party, the Maysan Professionals or Kafaat al-Maysan, will run on a platform of reconstruction for Maysan. "We have good experience with reconstruction," Zaid explained. "If we are successful, that will lead to greater security." He said his party's candidate list consisted of mostly technocrats - ten engineers, two agriculture engineers, seven women, two doctors, and two teachers. He reported that the Sadrist-affiliated Hussein Ideology Front (HIF) - led by Mohammed Wahid and which currently holds the Governor's, Provincial Council (PC) Chairman's, and fifteen of the forty-one PC seats - will not contest the elections. Maysan Parties to Monitor Polling Stations -------------- ¶5. (C/REL MCFI) TL asked if there were any plans for election monitoring for the upcoming provincial elections. Zaid responded that each major party would be authorized 100 representatives who will be permitted to observe polling stations on election day. (Note: Guidance from UNAMI, based on November 19 dicussion with Poloff, indicates that political entities may have up to two authorized observers per polling station, without a limit on observers per province. UNAMI emphasized, however, that the rules on polling observers are a work in progress and it cannot be discounted that Zaid may know something that UNAMI doesn't. End note.) Comment -------------- ¶6. (C/REL MCFI) Zaid, who has been the provincial government's lead collaborator with the PRT, was upbeat after receiving an update on the status of PRT projects and lavished praise on the PRT and Coalition Forces for their assistance and project execution. He, like other political party representatives, is reticent to discuss which political party seems to have the upper hand going into the elections. (Note: Governor Maliki recently told TL that he thought Zaid would win the Governor's race. End Note.) While the possibility exists that other, hardline Sadrist gubernatorial candidates could emerge, confirmation of his candidacy indicates Maysan's leading Sadrists believe continuing partnership with the U.S. is in their best interests. End Comment. CROCKER