WHO WILL BE A KUCHI VOTER?

UNCLAS KABUL 002121 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR JWOOD OSD FOR SHIVERS CG CJTF-101, POLAD, JICCENT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF SUBJECT: WHO WILL BE A KUCHI VOTER? REF: A. KABUL 1948 ¶B. KABUL 1818 ¶C. 06 KABUL 2943 ¶D. KABUL 1701 ¶1. (SBU) As reported REF A and REF B, debate in various committees of the National Assembly on a new electoral law continues to focus on the question of Kuchi representation. The 2005 electoral law designated 10 of the 249 seats in the lower house of the National Assembly as "Kuchi" seats. These seats, unlike any other lower house seat, have a national rather than provincial constituency: a Kuchi voter anywhere in Afghanistan may vote for candidates for these 10 seats. ¶2. (SBU) In 2005 election procedures allowed voters to self-identify as Kuchis. Although voter registration cards from 2005 show a voter's province of residence, voters could choose to go to a separate polling station to vote on a separate Kuchi ballot to elect the Kuchi representatives. In choosing a Kuchi ballot, the voter forfeited the chance to vote on any provincial ballot. Thus, in 2005 a Kuchi voter in Bamiyan could "vote Kuchi" on the Kuchi ballot, or "vote Bamiyan" by showing an appropriate voter registration card at a Bamiyan polling place and choosing the provincial ballot. ¶3. (SBU) Defining "a Kuchi voter" for future elections is a thorny political question. Ethnic Pashtuns now hold all 10 Kuchi seats. Ethnic Turkmen, Tajiks, and Baluchi also are possible Kuchi voters, however, because Afghans accept that "Kuchi" refers to the nomadic way of life rather than a distinct ethnic group. Yet the Kuchis' increasingly settled existence and the competition for resources this creates (REF C) lies behind some of the present friction between Kuchis and other groups. The alternative of converting the 10 Kuchi seats into additional seats for provincial constituencies also is problematic. One objective basis -- how many voters choose the Kuchi ballot per province in 2005 -- is not available. Election officials in 2005 did not tabulate the 204,822 Kuchi ballots by province, because the law designated a national constituency for the Kuchi seats. ¶4. (SBU) The subset of voters who will receive the new voter registration cards, to be issued by the IEC beginning October 6 (REF D),will have both a district (nahia) and a province of residence noted on their cards. This additional data will be useful in 2010, for the National Assembly elections. The unresolved question of Kuchi representation will not be a hindrance to the nation-wide presidential election in 2009. WOOD