LOSING POLITICAL ENTITIES CRY FOUL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000008

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: LOSING POLITICAL ENTITIES CRY FOUL

REF: BASRAH 0007

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CLASSIFIED BY: Mark O'Connor, Deputy Director, Regional Embassy
Office Basrah, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: Representatives from 15 different political
entities requested a ballot recount during a February 10 press
conference in Basra. Among other complaints, the
representatives asserted a discrepancy between the preliminary
election results announced by the Independent High Electoral
Commission (IHEC) and those calculated by the individual parties
present. REO discussed the issue with Provincial Council (PC)
candidates Sayid Bahaa Jawad and Awadh Al Abdan, as well as
Basra Governorate Electoral Office (GEO) Director Hazim Jodah.
While Bahaa and Abdan strongly implied malfeasance, Jodah
confidently rebuffed the suggestion. End summary.

Losing Parties Contest the Results
-------------- -


2. (C) Following the February 10 press conference in which 15
different political entities contested preliminary election
results, Sayid Bahaa Jawad explained to the REO on February 11
the nature of the complaints. Bahaa said that the figures
released by IHEC on February 5 did not match the figures he had
extrapolated from reports made by his observers on election day.
Bahaa, a current PC member and candidate for "The Gathering of
Good and National Reform" coalition (394),suggested that the
totals reported to IHEC Baghdad did not reflect the actual votes
in the ballot boxes. Bahaa, suspecting malfeasance, spearheaded
the press conference calling for a recount.


3. (C) Bahaa described IHEC as being "too politicized" and
speculated that fraud had likely taken place in the evening when
ballot boxes were opened. At that time, he continued, most of
the observers had gone home. He said that with just 700
observers, it was impossible for his party to monitor the 3,500
polling stations across the province.


4. (C) Bahaa provided the REO with a copy of a letter signed
by 15 representatives from various political entities and
addressed to the citizens of Basra. The letter stipulated that
IHEC preliminary figures were incorrect and called for a ballot
recount in the presence of UN observers. The letter also
complained that many voters had been disenfranchised - the
result of names either not appearing on the voter registration
list or varying slightly from the name on record. The letter
also pointed out that IHEC had not provided political entities
with official election results as is required by law.

Sunni Party Also Suspects Fraud
--------------


5. (C) Awadh Al Abdan, National Dialogue Front Branch Chief,
made a similar complaint to the REO on February 15. Abdan,
whose party was also signatory to the letter, echoed allegations
of election fraud. He argued that approximately 70,000 Sunnis
voted in the provincial election, yet votes for the two "Sunni"
entities -- the Iraqi Islamic Party and the Iraqi National
Project Gathering (149) -- totaled far less than that number
according to the IHEC figures. Scoffing at suggestions that
some Sunnis may have cast their ballots for another entity,
Abdan declared that "Sunnis would not vote for other parties."
The announcement that the "Al Shahid Al Mihrab List and
Independent Power" coalition (290) had won 11 percent of the
vote also raised a red flag with Abdan, who described Basrawis
as "97 - 98 percent secular."

GEO Director Rebuts Charges
--------------


6. (C) On February 11, Basra Governorate Electoral Office
(GEO) Director Hazim Joda retorted that it was too early to
challenge IHEC's figures and that objections would be heard only
after official results had been released. Meeting at the REO,
he also pointed out that not one of the representatives at the
press conference had filed an official complaint with IHEC or
had even identified a specific wrongdoing. Jodah emphasized the
difficulty of tampering with the election results. He remarked
that IHEC had issued 49,700 badges to political observers in
Basra to cover 3,673 polling stations -- averaging close to 14
observers per station. He said observers watched the count and
did not complain at the time. Regarding the issue of
disenfranchised voters, Jodah blamed the individuals themselves
for failing to verify their voter registration information
during last year's registration drive. (See reftel.)


7. (C) Jodah parried Abdan's Sunni concerns by explaining that
IHEC had paid particular attention to the major Sunni areas of
Abul Khasib and Zubayr, where he hired an 80 to 90 percent Sunni
staff to work the polls. Jodah disclosed that as his mother is
Sunni, he is consequently also considered to be Sunni and that
this is well known within those communities.


8. (C) Comment: The argument promulgated at the press
conference relies on anecdotal evidence and is very weak. It is

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noteworthy that no specific examples of fraud have been
identified and that nearly all of the 15 political entities
participating in the conference failed to gain at least 3
percent of the vote. Absent verifiable evidence to the
contrary, complaints of fraud appear to be the venting of
frustration at having failed to win a seat on the PC. Hazim
Jodah has done a superb job as the GEO Director and the apparent
lack of public interest in this issue illustrates Basrawis'
general satisfaction with his performance and the election
results. End comment.
O'CONNOR