ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD IN KRG ELECTIONS POSSIBLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002277 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2019 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KIRF IZ SUBJECT: ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD IN KRG ELECTIONS POSSIBLE PREVIEW FOR JANUARY ELECTIONS REF: BAGHDAD 2032 Classified By: Political Counselor Yuri Kim for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d). This is a combined Embassy Baghdad Political Section/Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) cable. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Despite the Independent Higher Electoral Commission's (IHEC's) recent certification of the results in the July 25 Kurdish Regional Elections, there remains lingering resentment among the Kurdish opposition and Christian parties that fraud, manipulation, and intimidation played a significant role in the outcome. Embassy and RRT contacts complain bitterly that although the dominant Kurdistani List (composed of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)) had in fact won the most votes, it did not win as many as had been garnered through underhanded tactics. Still, the surprising success of the Change List (and to a lesser degree the Service and Reform List),in tandem with the good organization (and credible review process) achieved by IHEC, seems to have limited the blowback from these allegations, as most Kurds and Iraqis seem now to have accepted the electoral results as valid. End Summary. Peaceful and Apparently Orderly Election -------------- ¶2. (C) Overall, both USG and international election observer teams commented that the July 25 elections in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) were reasonably well-run and that efforts were made in all polling centers to conduct elections in accordance with international standards (reftel). But despite international observers' general satisfaction with the election day voting process, Kurdish opposition leaders, as well as minority parties, especially Christian, immediately began alleging widespread fraud and intimidation by the Kurdistani List (the joint KDP/PUK ticket). Bullying and Manipulation Before the Election -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Goran, or "Change" List, reported that it had to vacate rented office space after its landlord received threats that there would be negative consequences for him if he continued to rent the office to an opposition party. There were also numerous allegations that government and private sector employees were threatened with losing their jobs if they actively supported an opposition party. Change List and Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) officials complained that the system for selecting polling station managers, key figures in the voting process, was rigged to favor Kurdistani List supporters. In Dohuk Province, for example, only ten of the 1,161 polling station managers were KIU supporters. Fraud at the Polling Stations -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The major opposition parties were unified in telling RRT staff that Kurdistani List polling station managers significantly affected the results of the election by requiring party and NGO observers to remain seated at a far end of the polling station, making it difficult for them to verify the processes used to identify individual voters and verify their registration status. Polling station managers were authorized to assist illiterate voters in marking their ballots, leading several opposition leaders to allege that managers often marked ballots for the Kurdistani List instead of the list chosen by the illiterate voter. Polling station managers also had the final say on the acceptance or non-acceptance of the IHEC form that permits individuals to vote who are not on the official registration list. According to the Erbil General Election Office Qlist. According to the Erbil General Election Office Director Handren Salih, 105,000 Form 111s were issued in his province alone (Note: Form 111 is a document issued by IHEC attesting that a voter is registered within a certain district even if their name does not appear on the voter rolls. End note.). The opposition contends that polling station managers accepted numerous fraudulent Form 111s, allowing individuals to vote multiple times. Many Christians Frustrated with KRG Elections -------------- ¶5. (C) The leaders of two Christian political parties have accused the KDP of rigging the Christian vote in favor the Christian party aligned to it. The Christian parties which performed poorly, the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM, also known as the Rafidein List) and the Chaldean Consolidated List, allege that the KDP officials intimidated Christians into voting for the KDP-allied Chaldean Syriac Assyrian People's Council, also known as the Ishtar List as well as BAGHDAD 00002277 002 OF 002 instructing Muslim KDP members to vote for the Ishtar List to increase its vote totals and in turn help the KDP as it seeks to solidify its dominant position within the Kurdish Parliament. The poor electoral performance of the Rafidein and Chaldean Lists is already forcing these parties to reassess their strategy for the January 2010 national elections and their support for the minority quota seats in those elections. ¶6. (SBU) MPs Yonadam Kanna and Ablahad Sawa, who represent the ADM and the Chaldean List respectively in the Iraqi Council of Representatives, expressed anger at the results and claimed that the KDP had rigged the elections in favor of the Ishtar List candidates who Kana characterized as "(KDP President Massoud) Barzani's puppets." Both leaders specifically claimed KDP officials had threatened Christians living in the town of Zakho in Dohuk province stating that if the villagers did not vote for the Ishtar List, the KRG would cut off financial assistance to the town. Kanna asserted Christian voter turnout in the KRG elections is generally low and that in the 2005 KRG elections only 7,000 Christians had gone to the polls. He argued that the fact that over 18,000 votes had been cast for Christian parties was proof that Kurdish Muslims had crossed over to tip the outcome of the Christian vote. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: While all parties acknowledge that the Kurdistani List in fact won the largest number of legitimate votes, they claim that the distribution of seats in the Kurdistani Parliament would have been different if the election had been completely fair. The surprising success of the two Kurdish opposition parties has tempered the emotion behind some of these allegations and limited the resulting bitterness. End comment. HILL