NAURU GOVERNANCE PROBLEMS RECUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SUVA 000135 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM NR SUBJECT: NAURU GOVERNANCE PROBLEMS RECUR REF: A. SUVA 424 ¶B. SUVA 538 ¶C. SUVA 408 Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Tiny Nauru has slid into another period of political instability. The landslide re-election of the reformist Scott government in August 2007 brought a sense of hope (Ref A); but leadership battles since have pushed Nauru back into seesaw political squabbles that we had hoped were history. Parliament is currently gridlocked nine-to-nine, reflecting the settling of old and new scores among Scotty Government ministers who are now rivals since a new Marcus Stephen Government came to power last December. A demonstration in February ostensibly over the Stephen Government's failure to respond adequately to citizen complaints of industrial pollution from resumed phosphate milling and the torching of Nauru's police HQ the same day accent the unstable political environment. The infighting has effectively stalled governance, blocking action on crucial economic concerns and prospects. End summary. Political upheaval returns to Nauru -------------- ¶2. (C) When Ludwig Scotty and a group of reformist colleagues won Nauru's 2004 election, toppling the government of then-President Rene Harris, the new government set out to correct a history of poor governance and corruption. The Scotty team's record was impressive enough that they won re-election by a landslide in August 2007 (Ref A). Later in the year, though, the Scotty coalition split asunder (Ref B), with Ministers Keke, Pitcher, and others accusing Foreign Minister Adeang of corrupt practices related to a group of Chinese-Thai businessmen involved in Nauru's Bangkok consulate. Keke, now Foreign Minister, says Adeang had also inappropriately approved government payments to some constituents and operated a slush fund of unknown origin during his August 2007 campaign for re-election. Adeang denied the allegations, and Scotty backed him. In December, the Keke/Pitcher group managed to win a parliamentary vote of no confidence and installed Marcus Stephen as President, with Keke as Foreign Minister and Pitcher as Commerce and Energy Minister. ¶3. (C) In March, the Stephen Government lost its thin parliamentary majority, and Adeang maneuvered to become Speaker of Parliament. In the face of a seemingly intractable 9-9 split, Adeang called a session of Parliament over the Easter weekend, while Keke and Pitcher were in Australia and allegedly without a quorum, and pushed through legislation forbidding any MP from holding dual citizenship. Thereafter, he attempted to bar Keke and Pitcher, both dual Nauruan/Australians, from Parliament. President Stephen, head of the Police, refused to enforce the ploy. Both sides called on Nauru's Chief Justice, an Aussie judge who resides in Kiribati, to resolve the constitutional conundrum. Keke reportedly told the media this week that the CJ has ruled in the Stephen Government's favor. Neighborhood Protest; Burning of Police HQ -------------- ¶4. (C) As the political muddle was developing, on February 7 a crowd of some 30 angry residents of Aiwo, adjacent to Nauru's phosphate processing plant, cut the lock on the Nauru power plant's fence, occupied the site, and demanded a shutdown of electricity for phosphate mining purposes. The protesters were complaining about phosphate dust. Accusations and counter accusations about unpaid rents on the power-plant land and unpaid electrical bills also were in play. Eventually police convinced protesters to leave the plant. Later in the day, someone set fire to the national police headquarters, a few miles away. Only favorable winds and a concrete wall spared the entire government complex and parliament from going up in flames. Authorities are convinced that the arson was related to the power plant protest and that both activities were almost certainly instigated by former President Harris. Harris and the PRC? -------------- ¶5. (C) Harris remains an "independent" MP from Aiwo district. SUVA 00000135 002 OF 003 In Nauru, population 10,000, all politics is incredibly local, and many in Aiwo are related to Harris. Foreign Minister Keke claims that Adeang has been negotiating with Harris to bring down the current government, promising Harris the presidency. Keke suggests Harris, as President, could open the door to re-establishing relations with China, which Harris accomplished previously, before Scotty re-instated Nauru's longer-standing bond with Taiwan. Pollution a Pretense? -------------- ¶6. (C) Keke dismisses the idea that phosphate dust triggered the February protest at the power plant or the fire at police HQ. While the dust is a real problem, clogging rooftop water catchment systems and gradually polluting groundwater with cadmium, the air pollution reportedly is much diminished from during the plant's heyday. Keke also doubts the protest was keyed by the fact that Harris and other Aiwo protesters are traditional owners of the power plant's land and believe they retain access rights. To Keke the real trigger was that a hotel owned by the Harris family owed a $500,000 electricity bill, other Aiwa residents also had big bills, and the utility had cut off power. Squabbling Leaves a Budgetary Vacuum -------------- ¶7. (C) Meanwhile, important legislation before Parliament is stymied. The Stephen Government tabled a budget, but has not been able to muster a majority to pass appropriation bills. Australia's Consul General on Nauru says millions of dollars in aid cannot be released without the requisite bills passing parliament. According to Foreign Secretary Maiava, if no appropriation bills are passed by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, new elections are inevitable. Canberra Prepares to Help Again -------------- ¶8. (C) Aside from the budget, Nauru faces other crucial challenges and opportunities on its economic front. The Rudd Government's winding up of Australia's controversial offshore refugee processing center on Nauru in February left in doubt Australian budgetary support for Nauru's otherwise bankrupt national treasury. According to Keke, revenues derived from hosting the center have accounted for 20 percent of Nauru's 28.5 million Australian dollar (USD 26 million) GDP. In late February, Keke met with his new Australian counterpart, Stephen Smith, to discuss a new MOU and ongoing support. Keke pleaded for Australia to help build sustainable industries, such as fish canning or ship maintenance, to support Nauru's long-term economic well being Smith reportedly said the Rudd government is committed to helping Nauru weather the current fiscal storm. (Comment: Finding "sustainable industries" for Nauru will be a challenge. Fish canning and ship maintenance do not strike us as likely prospects.) Phosphates Second Coming: A Last Chance? -------------- ¶9. (U) Actually, phosphates, which brought boom and then bust in the past, may still be Nauru's saving grace, despite the dust problem. Per Ref C, a layer of phosphate has been discovered beneath the current mining operation and is believed sufficient to sustain another thirty years of mining. Nauru exported 335,000 tons of phosphate in 2007. Production costs remain high, but increasing efficiencies and a worldwide phosphate shortage could eventually shift the industry's fortunes into the black. Vinci Clodumar, CEO of the Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation (NRC),which is responsible for the mining of phosphate, told PolOff that the NRC has recently invested some A$6-7 million in new equipment to mine the so-called secondary phosphate. ¶10. (C) Lacking non-phosphate natural resources other than marine fisheries, which net the country some USD 5-8 million annually, the Stephen Government is painfully aware, as was the Scotty Government, that Nauru cannot afford to bungle any second phosphate boom. However, it is difficult to balance immediate demands from land owners, who claim to be owed millions in royalties and rent, with the need to bank much of any new phosphate revenues for the future day when no more layers of phosphate exist. In July 2007, just prior to the August elections, the Scotty Government approved the first royalty payments to landholders since 2001. A second tranche was paid by the Stephen Government in February this year, but SUVA 00000135 003 OF 003 the current payments are minuscule compared to those last made in 2001, and landowners were not placated. Keke, Pitcher and others in the current government assured us that Nauru will not repeat the mistakes of old. Last year, Adeang assured us the same. This time around, all, except perhaps former President Harris, have said transparency and fiscal sobriety must be the mantra. A Whiff of the Bad Old Days: Our Airline Eyes OzJet -------------- -------------- ¶11. (C) A worrisome indicator that the invocations of fiscal responsibility should be taken with a grain of salt is that government-owned and Taiwan-financed Our Airline (formerly Air Nauru) is reportedly negotiating the possible takeover of a small, Australia-based regional carrier OzJet. Press reports say OzJet had its eye on Our Airline, but the tables have turned. Our Airline covets OzJet's service to Norfolk Island, which was a cash cow for Air Nauru before it lost the route following Ex-Im Bank's seizure of Air Nauru's sole aircraft in 2005. According to an Embassy contact, the proposed OzJet deal was a main reason for the trip by Ministers Keke and Pitcher to Australia over the Easter weekend. One of Nauru's past problems was leaping after "opportunities" that turned out to be very un-economic. Comment -------------- ¶12. (C) One might have thought Nauru would have learned from past governance failures; but the past four months of parliamentary stalemate and highly charged accusations are very disconcerting and do not bode well. The cooperative atmosphere between the United States and Nauru, under both the Scotty and Stephen governments, in the United Nations and in regional bodies could be put at risk. The China-Taiwan competition, never far beneath the surface in Nauru could threaten good governance yet again. Nauru is very small, but bad governance there can disrupt regional cooperation. That is a reason why the Pacific Islands Forum took on a special assistance mission there, even before the latest political mess. It is in the USG interest to keep urging Nauru leaders to forsake personal and short-term agendas in favor of stable, far-sighted governance. DINGER