AT LONG LAST, SUDAN HAS A NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001685 DEPT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, SE WILLIAMSON, AF/SPG, DRL NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM SOCI KPKO UNSC SU SUBJECT: AT LONG LAST, SUDAN HAS A NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION REF: A) KHARTOUM 1673 B) KHARTOUM 1650 C) KHARTOUM 1522 SUDAN HAS AN ELECTORAL COMMISSION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶1. (SBU) On 17 November, the Sudanese National Assembly approved the nine members of the National Electoral Commission (NEC). The NEC Chairman is prominent Sudanese political figure and southerner Abel Alier (reftels). Alier, an internationally respected judge and human-rights lawyer, who served as vice-president of Sudan from 1971 to 1981. Most recently, he served as co-chair of the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC). While Alier is loosely affiliated with the United Sudan African Party (USAP),he is known nationally for his political impartiality. ¶2. (SBU) Abdalla Ahmed Abdalla was nominated as the NEC Deputy Chairman. Abdalla, currently a professor of agriculture at the University of Khartoum, is a native of River Nile State (also the home state of GoS President Omar Al-Bashir). He served as the Sudanese ambassador to the United States from 1990-1992 and returned to Sudan to assume governorships in the Northern State and the River Nile State and serve the GoS Minister of Agriculture. Abdalla is a prominent National Congress Party (NCP) figure. He received his college degree from the University of California-Davis in the early 1960s. The other seven NEC members include: Ms Fillister Baya, Ms Mahassin Haj Al-Saffi, James Bol Kajmal, Abdallah Ballah Al-Hardalou, Mohamed Taha Abu Samrah, Mukhtar Al-Asam and Al-Hadi Mohamed Ahmed Hassabou. The NEC is composed of three southerners (Alier, Baya, and Kajmal) and six northerners. INFORMED REACTION FAVORABLE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (SBU) On 18 November, POLOFF spoke with a variety of informed observers of the electoral process. NEC member Mukhtar Al-Asam, a professor of political science at Garden City College, said he is glad that the NCP and the SPLM finally agreed on the NEC make-up and mentioned that he is "looking forward" to the job and to "clean, proper and transparent elections." He speculated that the NEC members would be sworn in and hold their first meeting next week. Abdalla Idris (who repeatedly refused requests that he take the NEC Deputy Chairmanship, due to his doubts that credible elections can be held within such a limited timeframe) told POLOFF on 18 November that the NEC members that he knows are good, upstanding and experienced individuals (ref B). Idris said that Dr. Mahassin Haj Al-Saffi, currently the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Omdurman Ahlia University (and a Former Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Khartoum) is very independent and hails from a well-respected family in Sudan. Mohamed Taha Abu Samrah is a colleague of Idris' at the University of Khartoum Faculty of Law. Idris described Samrah as "very experienced" and mentioned he received his PhD in France. Idris also commented on the NEC Deputy Chairman Abdalla Abdalla, who is a professor of agriculture at the University of Khartoum. According to Idris, Abdalla was an "experienced and able" minister in Sudan. "Abdalla accepted the Deputy Chairman position reluctantly," said Idris. Abdalla is in his late 70s, as is NEC Chairman Alier, he continued. "The people selected as commission members that I know are good people," said Idris, "but only time will tell" if this Commission is a good one. "Let us watch and see," he concluded. ¶4. (SBU) POLOFF also met with influential SPLM member of parliament Manoah Aligo Donga on 18 November. Overall, Donga was positive about the establishment of the NEC. Donga said that southern NEC member James Bol Kajmal previously served as a Deputy Governor in the South and was also a member of Parliament in 1958. Kajmal has also worked in the private sector. Donga said that while he is not very familiar with NEC member Fillister Baya, she is a trained accountant and currently works at the Ivory Bank in Khartoum. Comment - - - - ¶5. (SBU) While more than three months overdue, the establishment of the National Electoral Commission is a major step forward for the SPLM and the NCP. We hope its establishment signifies the start of true electoral planning by the Government of National Unity. Initial reactions in Khartoum to the NEC, ranging from SPLM parliamentarians to well-respected academics, are positive. At the same time, there is considerable concern in the community about whether the NEC will be able to hold fair and credible elections at six-levels of government without additional reforms, such as a new media/press act and security law. Another concern is the CPA timetable, which calls for elections by July 9, 2009. If anything is certain it is that the NEC has its work cut out for it. As the Chair and Deputy Chair, Alier and Abdalla must assume their roles full-time per the electoral law; the other seven members will only be expected to work KHARTOUM 00001685 002 OF 002 part-time on the elections. The NEC's first order of business will be to review the feasibility of conducting elections by July 2009 and to determine the election's date. FERNANDEZ