BASRAH ELECTION UPDATE (CORRECTED COPY; DISREGARD BASRAH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000058

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/11/2018
TAGS: PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: BASRAH ELECTION UPDATE (CORRECTED COPY; DISREGARD BASRAH
0057)

BASRAH 00000058 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Howell Howard, Director, Regional Embassy Office
Basrah, Dept. of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b)


1. (C/REL MCFI) SUMMARY: The Basrah elections Director, Hazim
Joda told the Basrah Regional Embassy Office (REO) and UK FCO
that 34 acceptable voter registration centers had been
identified, as of June 4. Coalition forces are conducting their
own security assessment. Liaison between the ISF and Hazim has
not been optimal, so REO will engage with ISF leaders.
Registration materials have not reached Basrah. Hazim has a
solid plan to securely warehouse registration materials, but has
asked the GOI's permission to use a larger GOI warehouse that
would be needed for ballots. The funding process for election
needs has been unwieldy. Thirty-nine Political Entities have
registered with Hazim, including 19 independents. A Coalition
elections working group, including REO, UK FCO/PRT and MND-SE
meets regularly. END SUMMARY.


2. (C/REL MCFI) Coalition stakeholders have formed a Basrah
elections working group, consisting of representatives from the
British FCO Embassy Office in Basrah, the British-led PRT,
MND-SE J-9 and the U.S. REO. The group meets regularly with the
Basrah Province Governorate Electoral Office (GEO) Director,
Hazim Joda; the latest meeting was June 4. The International
Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) representative (funded by
USAID) has also made several trips to Basrah to assess GEO needs
and to conduct training.


3. (C/REL MCFI) GEO Director Hazim, working in conjunction with
the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the district/subdistrict
officials, chose each Voter Registration Center (VRC) and the
polling stations as well. After changing several sites that
were inadequate, 34 VRCs have been selected for Basrah province;
Hazim said he is more or less satisfied with the sites selected.
There are several alternate sites selected in case of possible
scheduling conflicts from the selected sites. (Note: Embassy
information is that IHEC chose the VRCs at the national level
after input from the GEO directors. End Note.) Hazim lamented
that the cooperation from the Iraqi Army (IA) and Police (IP)
has not been fully satisfactory and that he had asked the ISF
liaison officer assigned to work with him to be replaced; he
asked the REO if Coalition representatives could help convince
the ISF commander for a replacement. A site security assessment
team from MND-SE (including U.S. military) has visited about 80%
of the selected sites. No significant security concerns have so
far been raised from the team's assessment.


4. (C/REL MCFI) Voter registration documents have not yet been
shipped to Basrah from Dubai. (Note: Printing is not yet
completed, so part of Iraq has received the documents yet. End
Note. The shipment of registration documents for the four
southern provinces, estimated to weigh about 22 tons, is planned
to be air-shipped to Basrah Air Station (BAS). The documents
will be further distributed to the neighboring three provinces
of Maysan, Dhi Qar, and Muthanna after arrival in Basrah. The
documents will be transported to the GEO warehouse located near
the BAS with the ISF providing security. The current plan for
security at the warehouse is to have the GEO prove two armed
guards to guard the interior of the warehouse while ISF provide
perimeter security.


5. (C/REL MCFI) Hazim was concerned that the present warehouse
space may not be sufficient when the time comes to store
ballots. He claimed that Basrah will be the central hub for
receiving and distribution ballots for all of Iraq. The ballots
would be shipped through Umm Qasr port and transported to the
Basrah warehouse for distribution to the rest of the country.
Hazim would prefer to use the GOI-owned (Ministry of Commerce)
Central Warehouse, constructed during the Saddam regime as the
central national depository, in Basrah city, which is larger.
He is waiting for approval from the Ministry of Commerce.


6. (C/REL MCFI) The full GOI funding for the elections has not
been forthcoming and Hazim has to submit each funding
requirement individually to Baghdad for approval. Hazim opined
that GOI funding has been slow mainly due from the delay in the
passage of the Elections law and the uniquely Iraqi bureaucratic
"turns and twists." (Note: Hazim conducts his meetings in
English and is fairly fluent. End Note.) Hazim noted that the
funding for the 2005 elections came mainly from the UN or USG.



7. (C/REL MCFI) Each VRC will be staffed with 12 people. Two
from each VRC, the manager and deputy, have already been sent to
a five-day training course in Karbala. These will then train
the remaining staff. Hazim indicated that due to pending
logistical and security issues, voter registration would take
place after June 15. (Note: current scheduling is July 1 - 30.
End Note.)


BASRAH 00000058 002.2 OF 002



8. (C/REL MCFI) The Political Entity (PE) registration and
certification process closed May 30, with 39 PEs having
registered, including 19 independents. Only one current
Provincial Council (PC) member, the chairman of Economic
Committee and the Co-Chair of Basrah Development Commission
(BDC),Munathil Abd Khanjar Al Miyahi, and two women have
registered as independents. There are 12 female PC members in
the current Basrah Provincial Council. The registration list
has been sent to Baghdad for vetting and approval.


9. (C/REL MCFI) COMMENT: Election preparations appear basically
to be on track. However, having all ballots come through a
seaport invites delay for getting the ballots distributed in a
timely and secure fashion. USAID is considering funding an NGO
that will conduct a "get out the vote" campaign. REO will
continue to engage with the ISF commander for the province,
General Mohammed and with the Chief of Police. Both have
expressed to REO (Septels) the importance of providing adequate
security. Some REO contacts have questioned Hazim's neutrality,
in that he is perceived as tied to ISCI, but have also described
him as fair and seem to be taking a wait and see attitude. The
head of ISCI in Basrah told REO Director that Hazim is basically
"their man." End Comment.
HOWARD