FIJI ELECTION PREPARATIONS WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000247

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI ELECTION PREPARATIONS WAY BEHIND SCHEDULE

REF: A. SUVA 147

B. SUVA 86

Classified By: DCM Ted Mann, per 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) Summary: Evidence is mounting that Fiji's interim
government is intentionally dragging its feet in preparing
for the national elections it has promised to hold in early

2009. The Finance Ministry has not yet released funds needed
to staff up the Elections Office or signed off on a New
Zealand donation of software needed to draw electoral
boundaries. The Ministry recently issued a circular requiring
that all assistance must be channeled through central
government accounts - apparently doing away with the special
trust funds donors had planned to use to ensure their aid is
only used for election-related purposes. The Constituency
Boundaries Commission has done next to nothing. The Chairman
of the Elections Commission recently endorsed the concept of
"electronic voter registration," throwing into doubt
announced plans to start door to door registration of voters
later this month. The only positive news on the election
front is (finally) the selection of a new Supervisor of
Elections. Negotiations on the Supervisor's contract may be
completed this week. End summary.

Ministry of Finance Holding Up the Election Process
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2. (C) Progress in preparing for Fiji's planned March 2009
election remains painfully slow. The Ministry of Finance has
proved to be a major hurdle. Fiji's Deputy Supervisor of
elections, Soro Toutou, told the multilateral Election Donors
Coordination Committee (EDCC) June 11 that Elections Office
work remains hamstrung because the Finance Ministry has not
yet released funds allocated in the 2008 budget to hire 38
staff (up from three at present). A Finance Ministry official
at the meeting insisted the funds - promised several months
ago - would be released "any day now." (As of June 18 the
funds had not been released.) The Finance Ministry official
also acknowledged that funding promised to the Constituency
Boundaries Commission (CBC) has not yet materialized.
Finally, the head of the NZAID office in Suva told the EDCC
that NZAID is ready to provide the CBC with new software and
technical assistance to help draw boundaries, but Finance has
not yet approved the required exemption from normal
procurement procedures to allow the donation to go through.


3. (C) The Chairman of the EDCC, Fiji Ministry of Justice
Permanent Secretary Pio Tikoduadua, took the Finance
Ministry representative to task for delays in getting funds
released. He also noted donor concern about a circular
recently issued by the Ministry of Finance stipulating that
foreign aid must be channeled through the central
government's accounts. The circular specifically forbids the
use of special purpose trust funds. Noting that the
governments of Australia and New Zealand plan to use trust
fund mechanisms to assist with the elections, Tikoduadua
urged Finance to exempt election-related assistance from its
new policy. Foreign governments, he said, are understandably
concerned that funds they earmark for elections be readily
accessible to the Elections Office and only used for
election-related purposes.

Boundaries Commission Drags Its Feet
--------------

4. (C) Donor country representatives told us after the
meeting they are increasingly frustrated with IG inaction on
elections. The CBC has talked a good game but has done next
to nothing to get new boundaries drawn. The six month
statutory time frame required to draw boundaries and allow
for public comment was supposed to have started months ago.
To date, no plans to start the six month clock ticking have
been announced. Finance's failure to clear off on the
donation of new software from NZAID (para two above) is only
part of the problem. Donors believe the CBC is not really
interested in drawing boundaries based on the current
electoral system and will drag its feet as long as possible.

Voter Registration Plans in Disarray
--------------

5. (C) Recent statements from the Chairman of the Electoral
Commission (EC),Sahu Khan, are also of concern. Khan told
the press May 29 that the EC is considering adopting an
electronic voter registration system similar to that used in
Samoa. At the EDCC meeting, Tikoduadua and Toutou
acknowledged that electronic registration is under
consideration but said no final decision has been made. The

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planned June kick-off for house-to-house registration may be
delayed. Toutou said that if the new system is adopted,
fingerprints and other data from each eligible voter may have
to be gathered, requiring a far more extensive registration
program than was originally planned. (Note: Per ref A, the
EC had previously decided to use the 2006 electoral rolls as
the basis for voter registration. The objective of the
house-to-house registration effort slated to begin in June
was to update and correct those rolls. If the EC decides in
favor of electronic registration, the 2006 rolls will be
discarded and the registration process will start from
scratch, requiring significant additional resources.)
Contacts at the Australian High Commission and NZAID told us
that a change to electronic registration would be time
consuming and very costly. Both doubted the process could be
finished in time to hold elections in March.

New Supervisor of Elections to Begin Work in July
-------------- --------------

6. (U) Felicity Heffernan, the New Zealand lawyer recently
appointed as Supervisor of Elections, arrived in Fiji June 18
to finalize her three-year contract. Heffernan is scheduled
to start work in early July. Australia is paying most of her
salary but did not play a role in the selection process.
Rumors are floating that Ms. Heffernan, who seems to have no
history related to elections, may be negotiating for an
augmented pay package.

Comment
--------------

7. (C) The interim government appears to be intentionally
making the election preparation process as difficult and slow
as possible. The Finance Ministry's footdragging reflects
the attitude of Interim Finance Minister Chaudhry, who
reportedly told the visiting EU Troika delegation June 18
that elections won't be possible until April 2010.
Bainimarama and other IG officials are just as unenthusiastic
about the March 2009 date. The international community needs
to keep the pressure on; but the IG may well fall further
behind, making an election delay a fait accompli. It is a
good bet that the IG will then blame any such delay on the
international community's visa sanctions and other
impediments.
DINGER