PAKISTAN ELECTION DAY BASICS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000613 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM PK SUBJECT: PAKISTAN ELECTION DAY BASICS REF: ISLAMABAD 07 5160 ISLAMABAD 07 5054 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Pakistan goes to the polls on February 18 to elect National Assembly and Provincial Assembly members. Polls will be open from 8 am to 5 pm; partial and unofficial results will be reported to the public by the Pakistan Election Commission beginning on February 19. Final unofficial results are not likely to be issued before February 20. There will be two official international observer missions on the ground: USG-funded Democracy International will issue its report on February 20; the EU mission will also issue its report on February 20. A domestic observer mission organization, FAFEN, will issue its report and parallel vote tabulation on February 19. ¶2. (SBU) The U.S. mission, supported by UK, Canandian and Japanese Embassy teams, will have a total of about 48 teams observing as well. Codel Kerry and Codel Jackson-Lee will join our observation teams on election day. We are establishing a Control Center at the U.S. Embassy that will operate in shifts beginning at 3 pm February 17 to 3 pm February 19. We ask that all Washington inquiries on the elections be forwarded through SCA/PB to the DCM Peter Bodde at in our Control Center (001-92-51-208-2873). End Summary. The Basics -------------- ¶3. (U) Pakistan goes to the polls on February 18 to elect members of the National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies (Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Northwest Frontier Province, plus representatives from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas). President Musharraf was re-elected on October 6 and is not a candidate in these elections. Pakistan's Senate is not up for reelection until ¶2009. See septels for political party primers. ¶4. (U) Polls will be open from 8 am to 5 pm across Pakistan on February 18. Counting, which will begin at around 5 pm, is done by hand, with results passed through several local and district returning officers to the provinces and up to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The ECP will issue periodic public statements beginning on February 19 on the unofficial results from various districts, and these unofficial results will be posted on the ECP website (www.ecp.gov.pk). We do not expect the ECP to issue final unofficial results before Wednesday, February 20. Official results will be released approximately a week after the 
election. ¶5. (SBU) Pakistani and international media will be covering various levels of the electoral process. In the past, media has reported results before the ECP issued its results. We caution that the media reports may not be accurate. Observer Missions -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The largest international observer mission is being sponsored by the European Union. It will have about 90 observers monitoring approximately the same number of districts (districts include multiple polling stations) across Pakistan. The EU will issue a statement regarding their assessment of the credibility of the election on February 20. There will also be several European Parliament Members visiting Pakistan who may issue their own statements. ¶7. (SBU) The U.S. is providing a grant to Democracy International to monitor the election. They will have 30-40 short-term observers in approximately 20 districts. DI plans to issue a statement regarding their assessment on the credibility of the elections on February 20. ¶8. (SBU) Through USAID funding, The Asia Foundation is supporting a domestic monitoring mission through its Pakistani partner, FAFEN (Free and Fair Elections Network). FAFEN will field 20,000 domestic observers in every district across the country (except the few in the FATA). FAFEN is likely to issue an assessment of the credibility and release its parallel vote tabulation report on February 19. ¶9. (SBU) The U.S. Mission will field 21 teams covering 27 ISLAMABAD 00000613 002 OF 002 districts. The UK, Canadian and Japanese embassies will join, providing 11, 15, and 1 teams, respectively. We will not/not comment on the credibility of the elections. We will provide the Dept with sitreps covering the atmospherics on election day. ¶10. (SBU) Currently, there are two codels (Kerry and Jackson-Lee) scheduled to participate in the mission's election observation on February 18. Post will coordinate press coverage for those visits and keep SCA/PPD advised. Security Arrangements -------------- ¶11. (SBU) ARSOs and Foreign Service National Investigators are assigned to each Codel and will be coordinating with the police authorities in each of the districts and towns that the Codels will be observing. Advance ARSOs will also be on the ground prior to the Codel's arrival to ensure security preparations and local situational control. ¶12. (SBU) In addition, every Observer Team will have close Police protection while visiting the polling sites and it is hoped to have a Police Officer in the team vehicles as well for communication and coordination. ¶13. (SBU) The SRSO and DRSO will operate from the Embassy Election Control Center to handle any unforeseen emergencies or requirements and two ARSOs will be monitoring the newly-installed Blue Force Tracker system that will be functioning inside each traveling Observer Team vehicle, allowing the SRSO, DRSO, and ARSOs to have immediate knowledge of any problem that arises with a team. Embassy Control Center -------------- ¶14. (SBU) We are establishing a Control Center at the U.S. Embassy that will operate in shifts beginning at 3 pm February 17 to 3 pm February 19. UK and Australian representatives will join us in this Control Center. We ask that all Washington inquiries on the elections be forwarded through SCA/PB to our DCM in the Control Center. ¶15. (SBU) Control Center phone numbers: -- Main: 001-92-51-208-2044 -- Chief: 001-92-51-208-2873/-2514/-2857 -- Alternatives: 001-92-51-208-2248/-2638/-2866/-2443/-2856/-2 958 Control Center fax numbers: 001-92-51-208-2007/-2008 PATTERSON