CODEL LIEBERMAN'S MEETING WITH PPP LEADER FAHEEM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000146 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/10/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PK SUBJECT: CODEL LIEBERMAN'S MEETING WITH PPP LEADER FAHEEM Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, for reasons 1.4 (b)(d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Pakistan People's Party candidate for Prime Minister Amin Faheem told Senator Lieberman January 9 that the party was concerned about election fraud and related arrests of party workers in Sindh. Faheem said that he would follow Benazir Bhutto's moderate political agenda, and noted she had envisioned the possibility of a post-election coalition with Musharraf's party. Her assassination changed the political landscape, but if the campaign remained fair, Faheem indicated this coalition was still possible. Musharraf was a good and liberal man, and Faheem had no personal animosity toward Musharraf's party leaders. But election fraud could destabilize the country, and Faheem urged the USG to support free and fair elections as scheduled on February 18. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Senator Joseph Lieberman and Ambassador met January 9 with Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Vice Chairman Amin Faheem and PPP Senator Enver Baig. Polcouns attended as notetaker. ¶3. (C) Senator Lieberman opened the meeting by expressing his condolences for the death of Benazir Bhutto and noted that she had called upon him in Washington; he said she was a great and inspirational patriot who will be missed. Lieberman expressed U.S. concern over the events in Pakistan over the last year, and said he had relayed those concerns to President Musharraf earlier in the day (septel). U.S.-Pakistan relation were historically strong, but this friendship is based primarily on people-to-people ties. We will work with the elected government, of course, but the foundation of our relationship is with the people of Pakistan. ¶4. (C) Faheem and Baig stressed their concern about possible electoral fraud and urged the USG to intervene and prevent the Pakistan government from taking actions that would jeopardize stability in the country. Fahim said they PPP had reluctantly accepted a delay in elections, although it appeared the decision to postpone was more politically than logistically motivated. Now, it was critical that there be no further delays. Lieberman said he had received Musharraf's assurances that February 18 was a firm date. ¶5. (C) Faheem described his concern about ongoing arrests of up to a thousand PPP workers in Sindh province on charges they were involved in the post-assassination violence that claimed over 40 lives and left billions of rupees in damages. Faheem said the government should arrest the looters and other criminals, but these were not political party workers. He voiced concern that pro-government mayors would use the excuse of the violence to arrest PPP poll and party workers and prevent them from working on turnout or election monitoring. ¶6. (C) Lieberman noted that he had told both Musharraf and PM Soomro that the USG wanted fair and credible elections and assured Faheem that we would continue to press for these goals. Without credible elections, there will be pressure in Washington to curtail the relationship and that is not in the interest of either nation. Therefore, it was important that the GOP both refrain from election misconduct and prevent others from engaging in it. ¶7. (C) Faheem said that Musharraf was a good man, a liberal man, with whom he and Benazir Bhutto had worked in the past. Faheem intended to follow Bhutto's wishes and plans. She had been in negotiations with Musharraf, and this was a good combination that had been supported by the USG. Personally, Faheem said he had no problem working with the Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML),and Shujaat had no problem working with him; their fathers had served together in the Western Pakistan Assembly. Pervaiz Elahi had recently called Faheem to apologize for a PML campaign ad that had inflamed PPP supporters. Bhutto had envisioned working with a PML coalition that included the PPP and other Pashtun and regional parties. ¶8. (C) Bhutto's assassination, Fahim cautioned, changed the political landscape. The public is expressing enormous sympathy with the PPP over her death, and the party needs to ISLAMABAD 00000146 002 OF 002 move carefully. PPP and the PML should not "utter a word against each other" that would poison the post-election environment. The campaign must continue but it should be political, not personal. This will leave coalition building possibilities open after the election. ¶9. (C) Lieberman noted that al Qaeda had clearly turned more aggressively on Pakistan, and we had a shared concern about protecting our peoples. If there were another attack on the U.S. and it emanated from Pakistani territory, this would override any other political concerns. Faheem said that fighting terrorism was the number one item in his agenda. ¶10. (U) Codel Lieberman did not clear this message. PATTERSON