PROMINENT MUTHANNA CANDIDATE ACCUSES FOES OF VOTE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 004075

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/30/2018
TAGS: POL PGOV PINR IZ
SUBJECT: PROMINENT MUTHANNA CANDIDATE ACCUSES FOES OF VOTE
BUYING AND INFLUENCE PEDALING IN PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS

Classified By: PRT LEADER BRADLEY LYNCH FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d).


1. (U) This is a Muthanna PRT reporting cable.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Independent Provincial Council (PC) member
Hakim Khazal Khashan is campaigning in earnest for
re-election. In a meeting with the PRT Muthanna Team Leader,
Hakim discussed his party's list, alleged that provincial
officials are using their offices to influence voters,
accused ISCI and the Al Zayad tribe of vote-buying, and
supported a visible U.S. presence on election day. While
most consider Hakim an honest and capable politician, his
long stay in Europe, where his immediate family still lives,
may cause voters to question his commitment to Muthanna. END
SUMMARY.

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HAKIM,S LIST
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3. (SBU) Hakim Khazal Khashan, leader of the Middle Euphrates
Gathering political entity, List 262, met with the PRT Team
Leader to discuss the upcoming provincial elections. He
presented the PRT with a copy of his party's political
poster, recently displayed on the front page of Muthanna's
weekly newspaper, and which will soon be plastered all over
the province. On the right side is a large picture of Hakim
superimposed on a crowd scene from his recent anti-corruption
rally in Samawah. On the left are smaller photos of his 25
running mates. (NOTE: Based upon population, there will be
26 seats on the new Muthanna Provincial Council, down from

41. END NOTE). The seven women on the list opted to have
only their names displayed on the poster.

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INFLUENCE PEDALING AND VOTE BUYING
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4. (C) Hakim claimed that provincial government officials are
using their public offices to secure votes in the upcoming
election. He cited increased welfare payments,
government-subsidized cement authorizations, and
infrastructure projects as some of the carrots officials are
using. When asked for examples of vote-buying, Hakim named
the Al Zayad tribe, whose top candidate is Mohammad Radhi
Sultan al-Zayadi, and the ISCI party. He charged that ISCI
recently paid 11,000 popular committee members a $400 monthly
stipend, promising that these payments will continue after
the election if their party is successful.

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ELECTION MONITORING
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5. (SBU) Hakim's party plans to have 250 election monitors at
polling stations around Muthanna; ten will be selected by
each of his 25 running mates. Unlike many of the political
leaders with whom the PRT has spoken recently, Hakim supports
a visible U.S. presence on election day. He believes that it
would reduce the likelihood of intimidation and corruption
while building voter confidence.

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
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6. (SBU) As a teenager in the 1980s, Hakim fled to Europe
with his family. He lived in Germany and studied engineering
in Switzerland. His wife, a German citizen, and his two
children live in Germany and have no plans to move to Iraq.
Hakim and his father Khazal Khashan, a U.S. citizen, were
part of the Iraqi Opposition Conference in London in 2002.
He also worked closely with the CPA, helping to make Muthanna
the first province in Iraq with a Provincial Council. In
2006, Hakim returned to Germany due to illness. He came back
to Iraq a year later, after Governor Hassani's assassination,
and resumed his duties on the Provincial Council. Hakim is
widely viewed in Muthanna (including the PRT) as an honest,
independent politician and a capable leader. However, with
his immediate family in Europe, his father in the United
Qhis immediate family in Europe, his father in the United
States, and a recent one-year absence from Iraq, voters may
doubt his commitment to Muthanna. END COMMENT.
CROCKER