MACEDONIA: PM GRUEVSKI PLEDGES CLEAN ELECTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000361

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: PM GRUEVSKI PLEDGES CLEAN ELECTION
RE-RUNS; CONTINUED PRESSURE NEEDED TO TURN PROMISES INTO
REALITY

REF: SKOPJE 359 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: P/E CHIEF SHUBLER, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) In the wake of seriously flawed early parliamentary
elections held June 1 (reftel),PM Gruevski told the
Ambassador that he will not pursue coalition talks until free
and fair re-runs are held at all polling stations where
problems were noted. He said ongoing law enforcement actions
would continue against perpetrators of the violent incidents
and electoral irregularities observed during the June 1
balloting. He also agreed that police and local election
board members at polling stations where re-runs are held will
come from outside those municipalities. If Macedonia holds
clean re-runs, the government may succeed in somewhat
re-building eAlbanian confidence in institutions and in
repairing the damage already done to the country's democratic
institutions, and to its NATO and EU membership aspirations.
End summary.

NO COALITION TALKS UNTIL CLEAN RE-RUNS ARE HELD
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2. (C) The Ambassador met with PM Gruevski June 2, at his
request, to discuss the aftermath of the seriously flawed
June 1 parliamentary elections. Gruevski said he was unhappy
about the incidents of intra-Albanian violence and electoral
irregularities that had occurred in northwest Macedonia and
in the vicinity of Skopje, which he acknowledged had mostly
been caused by eAlbanian governing coalition partner DPA.
The government would "do everything in its power" to ensure
the results in polling stations where such irregularities had
been noted were annulled to allow new voting in re-runs two
weeks hence (June 15). In the meantime, he would not engage
in coalition talks with other parties until free, fair, and
clean re-runs were held.

RE-RUNS AT ALL PROBLEMATIC POLLING STATIONS
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3. (C) Gruevski acknowledged the damage the violent
incidents, intimidation, ballot stuffing, and other electoral
irregularities had done to the country. He had spoken to
opposition eAlbanian DUI leader Ahmeti the night of June 1,
he said, to reassure him that he would encourage all state
decision-making bodies to accept re-runs at all polling
stations where such problems had been noted. He added that
he was going to meet with Ahmeti again to underscore his
commitment to "100 percent free and fair voting" in those
re-runs.

LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS AGAINST PERPETRATORS
--------------


4. (C) The Prime Minister noted that 28 individuals suspected
of involvement in violent incidents or electoral fraud on
June 1 already had been arrested and detained, and that
police planned to arrest more suspects. Among those detained
were notorious crime kingpin Agim Krasniqi and members of his
gang (associated with DPA). Gruevski added that he had
"resisted DPA pressure to free" Krasniqi, and pledged to
prosecute the DPA activists who had illegally detained a U.S.
congressional staffer at a polling station (reftel).

REVISING POLICE AND ELECTORAL BOARD PROCEDURES FOR RE-RUNS
-------------- --------------


5. (C) Gruevski insisted that, following a joint conversation
with the Ambassador and DPA President Thaci the preceding
week, he had ordered DPA-affiliated "Alpha" (plainclothes)
police officers in Tetovo and other eAlbanian areas to be
rotated out. It was possible, he ventured, that some of them
returned "while off-duty" to the area (where they later took
part in some incidents of voter intimidation and fraud). He
said he would ensure uniformed police from outside the
trouble spots were brought in to provide security during the
re-runs, and agreed to the Ambassador's suggestion that Local
Election Board members should come from outside of the

SKOPJE 00000361 002 OF 002


municipalities in which re-runs were held. Gruevski added
that he would propose to the VMRO Executive Committee that
senior VMRO leaders serve as observers during the re-runs.

ONE COUNTRY, ONE LAW FOR ALL
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6. (C) The Ambassador told Gruevski that Macedonia was one
country, and therefore one law had to apply for all citizens,
regardless of ethnicity. Violations of one citizen's rights
undermined the rights of all citizens. Noting that Embassy
monitors had noted numerous instances of electoral fraud,
intimidation and other irregularities, she said we concurred
with ODIHR's preliminary assessment of the elections, issued
the same day, describing them as falling short of meeting
OSCE and Council of Europe commitments.


7. (C) The flawed outcome could be repaired, the Ambassador
continued, if the government ensured free, fair and
well-administered re-runs in all areas affected by violence
and irregularities, not just in the handful of polling places
officially closed by the State Electoral Commission on
Election Day. The police had to enforce the law and ensure a
safe and secure environment for all voters, observers, and
election administration officials. The government had to do
everything in its power to prevent a repeat of the June 1
incidents.

COMMENT
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8. (C) Macedonia is at a crossroads in its democratic
development -- if it succeeds in holding free and fair
re-runs, and DUI accepts the outcome, there is a good chance
that the damage already done to the country's NATO and EU
candidacies can be repaired. If it fails to do so, the
political repercussions will be swift and potentially
destabilizing. DUI will feel that it has been cheated out of
what it considers its legitimate place as the representative
of the majority of eAlbanian voters. DUI members will
question the party's commitment to Macedonia as a unitary
state in that case, and federalization as an option may
become an attractive option for many among the DUI rank and
file.


9. (C) Responsibility for the right outcome largely rests
with Gruevski, who must make good on his words, ensure that
there is considerable re-voting, and order his MOI to ensure
that DPA leader Thaci's henchmen and law enforcement officers
sympathetic to DPA are prevented from repeating the
intimidation tactics they used during the electoral campaign
and on Election Day. Whether Gruevski succeeds is largely a
question of political will, not of capacity or the legal
instruments needed to turn things around. Ongoing U.S. and
other international pressure will be necessary to ensure that
Gruevski fulfills his promises.
Milovanovic