LEBANON: MINISTER OF INTERIOR PRESENTS ELECTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIRUT 001521

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA, PM/FO
P FOR DRUSSELL, RRANGASWAMY
USUN FOR KHALIZAD/WOLFF/SCHEDLEBAUER
NSC FOR ABRAMS/YERGER/MCDERMOTT/RAMCHAND
OSD FOR EDELMAN/LONG/STRAUB/DALTON
JOINT STAFF FOR RANK/NICHOLSON
CENTCOM FOR ALLARDICE/MACLEAN/PADDOCK
DIA FOR LARSON/CRONIN/KRAUSE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2018
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL UNSC MARR MCAP MOPS IR LE
SUBJECT: LEBANON: MINISTER OF INTERIOR PRESENTS ELECTION
PLAN AND DONORS RESPOND

Classified By: Ambassador Michele J. Sison for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Minister of Interior Ziad Baroud presented a master
plan for execution of the 2009 parliamentary elections on
October 20 during a well-attended briefing for international
donors. Though still light on specifics and cost estimates,
this document was welcomed by the donor community who have
been poised for months to assist. UNDP Country Director
Marta Ruedas, who will be leading international coordination
efforts, organized a follow-on meeting on October 23 for
donors. The U.S. and EU announced significant contributions
and a number of other countries stated that they will use the
master plan as the basis for proposals to their capitals for
funding. On the basis of this initial donor meeting, it
appears that the entire "wish list" from the Ministry will
not be met by donor. EU representatives, in particular,
asked what contributions the GOL itself would be making
towards the administration of this important election. End
Summary.

Master Plan Unveiled at Long Last
--------------


2. (C) After numerous delays, the Ministry of Interior
presented a master plan to the donor community which is a
"list of activities, tasks and outputs required to prepare,
implement and evaluate in the most adequate manner for the
2009 parliamentary elections." The Ministry said it prepared
the documents using lessons learned from previous elections,
reports and recommendations prepared by domestic and
international organizations, and the requirements of the new
electoral law passed on September 29. The master plan also
states the Ministry's intention to improve the integrity of
the electoral process, increase voter participation, ensure
that there is transparency and accountability throughout the
process and, interestingly, "to make the best out of the
voted reforms." Baroud told the donor community frankly that
he had wished for more reforms to be adopted by parliament,
but that he intended to be as forward-leaning on the approved
reforms as possible. He used pre-printed ballots as an
example. While civil society activists were dismayed to see
this measure defeated in parliament, Baroud told donors that
he is speaking with political parties to look for compromises
and partial, non-mandatory measures as an alternative.


3. (C) The master plan is broken down into nine specific
components:

-- Voter registration
-- Polling stations
-- Supervisory Commission for Electoral Campaigns (SCEC)
-- Capacity Building
-- Information, Communication, and Outreach
-- Security and Control Room
-- Observation and Coordination
-- Evaluation of Electoral Process
-- Implementation of Out of Country Voting (Note: The new law
requires that this measure be in place for the 2013
elections, not the 2009 elections. End Note)

Baroud Wants Donor Coordination, But Done by Others
--------------


4. (C) Baroud stressed the need for donors to avoid
duplicative efforts. "There are a lot of international funds
spent in Lebanon, but they often overlap on one issue while
leaving others unaddressed." He also stressed the need to
increase transparency for the Lebanese electorate on
international contributions. "We must be able to replace
rumor with fact."


5. (C) Oddly, Baroud then said he was willing to leave the

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room so that donor coordination could take place privately.
This was met with a few raised eyebrows, as a number of other
donors had hoped the Minister himself would take on this
responsibility. However, Baroud and Ruedas have been in
close contact during the development of the master plan and
she quickly stepped forward with an offer to coordinate a
follow-on donors meeting.


6. (C) Baroud then responded to questions from the donors.
When asked why no costs had been included, he said they were
still finalizing those figures with the help of a report
prepared by the EU. He also said that he hoped donors would
consider in-kind contributions of polling station equipment,
uniforms for polling center staff, and other equipment.
"Given the complex Lebanese procurement system, we would
prefer to accept in-kind donations." The Ambassador asked
Baroud about international election observers. He said that
the Council of Ministers must first appoint members of the
Supervisory Committee for Electoral Campaigns and he did not
believe that a firm decision on observers would be taken
until early 2009.


7. (C) Baroud said he and his team were ready to respond to
any follow-up questions from donors. Baroud has an extremely
small, overworked staff working on this issue. Ruedas
informed us privately that UNDP had agreed to pay for 4-5
additional elections experts to be hired and seconded to the
Ministry as soon as possible, which will help enormously.

U.S. and EU Pledge Substantial Amounts, Others are
Considering, But Overall Total Will Fall Short
--------------


8. (C) UNDP quickly organized a meeting for donors on October
23 and Rabih Shaer also attended as a representative of
Minister Baroud. While no specific amount has been provided,
UNDP officials estimate that the master plan activities will
cost approximately $15 million total. The EU, which had met
with member state representatives the day before, began by
announcing a three million euro contribution, which will
focus on voter registration, polling stations, information
and communications issues, and the SCEC, which was listed as
the highest priority for the EU. Patrick Laurant, the head
of the EU Mission in Lebanon, also told fellow donors that
material or in-kind contributions were being considered and
that the EU would offer consultants to the Ministry for
procurement, logistics, and media planning.


9. (C) The Ambassador shared with the larger group elements
of the USG assistance package, which includes a USD 1.5
million grant DRL grant to the International Foundation for
Electoral Systems (IFES) from February 2008 and a more recent
USAID award of USD 6.1 million to IFES, the National
Democratic Institute (NDI),and the International Republican
Institute (IRI) for additional electoral support activities.
IFES will provide the most direct support to the Ministry and
will address a number of needs outlined by the master plan.


10. (C) The Danish Ambassador said he needed to consult with
his capital, but that there was the possibility of a donation
"up to one million dollars." He also said they were
interested in providing in-kind contributions, as a
well-known Danish company had produced secure ballot boxes
for a number of recent international elections. The Mexican
Ambassador, who has been very active locally on this issue,
said that his country would not be able to make an outright
financial contribution, but would offer technical expertise,
with a specific focus on the long-term planning needed for
out-of-country voting. The UK announced a small contribution
to IFES to examine security issues in the contested electoral
districts and also announced a small grant to the Lebanese
Transparency Association (LTA) to focuson campaign finance
monitoring, a new regulationintroduced by the recent
election law. The Norwgians, Germans, Swiss, Italians, and
Romanians all asked for more detailed project proposals from
the Ministry in order to request funds from their capitals.

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The Canadians announced that they were considering financial
support to UNDP to assist with the coordination efforts.


11. (C) While the exact figures are not available, it became
clear that donor contributions would not cover the entire
cost of administering the election. Laurant bluntly asked
what donors could expect the GOL itself to contribute to this
effort. Shaer responded that the Minister had presented the
master plan to the Council of Ministers, but he does not have
the authority to demand that the Council fully fund the
master plan. "He can't make it happen on his own - there
must be enough political support for an allotment from the
national budget."


12. (C) When asked how he would prioritize spending if all
elements could not be funded, Shaer said that voter
registration and the issuance of proper ID cards were the
most urgent and important measures needed to restore the
confidence of the Lebanese electorate. "In the last
election, more than 330,000 voter registration applications
were rejected with very little accountability." Shaer said
that Baroud had appointed an Internal Security Forces (ISF)
general to run twelve registration centers throughout the
country, but they needed software and machines to produce the
ID's as soon as possible.

Comment
--------------


13. (C) While security was a component of the master plan,
few donors seem to address this issue. Given that the
elections are scheduled to take place on a single day for the
first time, there is a need for the Lebanese security
services to coordinate and plan for this massive task. The
Ambassador suggested that interested donors form a
specialized sub-group to discuss the election security issue
in greater detail. End Comment.
SISON