GUINEA-BISSAU PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, ELECTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 DAKAR 000666 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA PARIS FOR DEA E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PU XY SUBJECT: GUINEA-BISSAU PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, ELECTION ROUNDUP REF: A. A)DAKAR 624 ¶B. B)DAKAR 460 Classified By: DCM JAY T. SMITH ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Of the thirteen candidates that remain in contention for the presidency of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanha, Kumba Yala, Henrique Rosa and Baciro Dabo have emerged as the front runners. Despite reported tensions between Sanha and Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, most observers expect Sanha and Yala to make it through to the second round of voting, with Sanha eventually winning. Other candidates appear to be using the campaign as a point of entry for negotiating a job with a subsequent administration. A diverse group of foreign governments have pledged enough money to pay for the election, which is on course the June 28 first round of balloting. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Following the May 13, 2009, Supreme Court ruling on electoral eligibility (Ref A) and the successful appeal of a previously disqualified candidate, thirteen of the original 20 candidates remain in the field for the June 28 presidential elections. Explaining its decision, the Court noted that many of the ineligible candidates had failed to adhere strictly to the internal regulations of their political parties, thereby disqualifying their candidacies. Several of the disqualified candidates, including former Prime Minister Aristides Gomes, have appealed the Court,s decision. Defying recent predictions to the contrary, five of the nine justices voted to allow the candidacy of businessman and former interim President Henrique Rosa despite doubts that his grandparents, nationality and place of birth met the legal requirements. GOMES, PEREIRA, AND THE PAIGC -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Interim President Raimundo Pereira,s presidential candidacy abruptly ended on April 24, 2009, when he lost the vote within the Central Committee of the ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) 118 to 144 to official PAIGC candidate Malam Bacai Sanha. Prime Minister and PAIGC President Carlos Gomes Junior had publicly lobbied for Pereira to become the party,s official presidential candidate. (Note: In January 2009, Gomes, personal and forceful intervention on Pereira,s behalf overcame rank-and-file PAIGC opposition and resulted in Pereira being named President of the National Assembly. End Note.) ¶4. (C) According to Linda de Souza, political advisor to the United Nations Peace-Building Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS),Sanha,s victory in the Central Committee,s vote was a clear and resounding repudiation of Gomes, who had defeated Sahna in the June 2008 party congress vote for the presidency of the PAIGC. Weakened by the military,s usurpation of national authority since the March assassinations of President Joao Bernardo Vieira and Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Tagme Na Wai and dogged by rumors that he was behind or involved in the killings, Gomes,s failure to muster the votes in the Central Committee for the candidacy of Periera, his right-hand man, served as stark evidence of Gomes, rapidly diminishing political capital, de Souza told PolOff on May 19. EARLY FRONT-RUNNERS: DABO, ROSA, SANHA, AND YALA -------------- --- ¶5. (SBU) With the support of the vast resources and political organization of the PAIGC, observers in Guinea-Bissau were unanimous during conversations with PolOff May 2-7, 2009, that PAIGC official candidate Sanha is the odds-on favorite to become the next President of Guinea-Bissau. Observers speculated that Sanha and Party for Social Renewal (PRS) President Kumba Yala would be the two candidates most likely to make it past the June 28 first-round ballot. The second round, normally to follow 30 days after the first round, likely would see Sanha prevail, according to international and local commentators. ¶6. (C) Sanha, who ran unsuccessfully for President in 2000 and 2005, is widely known as the &Muslim8 candidate. In particular during the 2000 run-off election against eventual winner Yala, Sanha,s campaign relied heavily on rhetoric appealing to Muslim nationalism and the country,s 50 percent Muslim population. Consequently, Sanha has been labeled an Islamic fundamentalist by Bissau,s political elite. Current DAKAR 00000666 002 OF 004 presidential candidate and former Presidential Chief of Staff Joao Cardoso, for example, referred to Sanha during a May 6 meeting with PolOff as a &religious fanatic.8 ¶7. (C) Sanha, however, dismissed such characterizations during a May 7 meeting with PolOff. He insisted that he had no intention of changing Guinea-Bissau,s secular state, either constitutionally or culturally. Sanha, who had returned to Bissau from a trip to Libya on May 6, cited his study of Marxism in his youth as evidence of his intellectual curiosity. He further noted that his regular consumption of alcohol and his two Christian wives are evidence of his religious flexibility and of his ties to the Christian community. Politically, Sahna postulated that in order to win the presidency of Guinea-Bissau, one must appeal to both the Muslim and Christian communities equally, and suggested that his campaign rhetoric would reflect that reality. (Note: Kumba Yala ostensibly converted to Islam in 2008, altering the politics of religion in the event of a Sahna-Yala election rematch. End Note.) ¶8. (C) Sanha didn,t deny the political rift between him and Gomes. When asked, Sanha said that Gomes would campaign for the PAIGC, but not for Sanha personally. In a sign of Gomes, sudden unpopularity with the electorate, Sanha speculated that were Gomes to campaign for him personally, it may be more a political liability than an asset. Sanha cited national reconciliation, security sector reform, delivery of basic services and counter-narcotics as his priorities if elected President. ¶9. (C) PRS presidential candidate Kumba Yala, who served as President from 2000 until he was deposed in a coup in 2003, has yet to return to Guinea-Bissau and is likely still in Dakar, Senegal. According to presidential candidate Zinha Vaz, Yala, from the Balanta ethnic group, announced in an April radio interview that he would stop all efforts to reform the security sector if elected president. Yala, was also quoted in Bissau-Guinean media in May justifying his refusal to sign the civil society-backed electoral code of conduct, explaining that no one had that moral authority to dictate his conduct. Despite the numerous and severe failings of his presidential administration, observers remain confident that Yala,s fellow Balanta will vote for him en masse. ¶9. (C) Independent candidate and businessman Henrique Rosa is the strongly preferred candidate of Bissau,s political elite. Rosa, who served as interim President from 2003 to 2005 following the military coup that removed Yala from office, is roundly praised for his sound management experience and his clean and wholesome image. While extremely popular in the city of Bissau, Rosa has little base of support in rural Guinea-Bissau according to the U.N.,s de Souza, where religious and ethnic cleavages supersede professional qualifications. Rosa, who enjoyed the support of Prime Minister Gomes until recent months, forcefully condemned in March 2009 the military,s beatings of critics (Ref B). On May 16, Rosa defended the armed forces more generally, insisting that the military cannot be blamed for all of the country,s ills since independence. ¶10. (C) Baciro Dabo, current Minister of Territorial Administration, enjoys the tacit backing of Prime Minister Gomes, according to de Souza, and is an un-official candidate of the PAIGC. A lifelong member of the PAIGC, Dabo served as an officer in both the military and the civilian police before launching his political career. A former Ambassador to the Gambia, journalist, radio personality, and accomplished singer, Dabo used his close association with Vieira to secure various ministerial portfolios, including the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Communication. According to the U.N.,s de Souza, Gomes encouraged Dabo to run for president following the PAIGC,s Central Committee vote in favor of Sanha. In a May 6 meeting with PolOff, Dabo described his candidacy as an &alternative8 to Sanha,s, who Dabo claims has lost too many elections and is too closely associated with past conflict. ¶11. (C) Note: Due in part to Dabo,s friendship with Vieira and his military and law enforcement experience, Dabo emerged as one of the prime suspects in the military,s investigation into the assassination of Na Wai. Dabo told PolOff that following Na Wai,s and Vieira,s deaths, soldiers came to his house and threatened to kill him and his family. In an uncharacteristic act of defiance to military authority, Gomes refused to allow the military investigators to interview Dabo DAKAR 00000666 003 OF 004 about his alleged role in Na Wai,s death. Instead, Dabo submitted to an interview by officers from the Judicial Police, who shared the results of the interview with the military to allow the armed forces to complete their investigation. End Note. ¶12. (C) The charismatic Dabo, who calls himself the &Zidane8 of Bissau-Guinean politics, conceded to PolOff that he is disliked by many in the armed forces. If elected President, he pledged to restore civilian authority in the country and impose discipline on an out-of-control military. His top priority, he said, would be security sector reform, of which compulsory military service would be a key component in order to instill an ethnic balance to a heretofore heavily Balanta armed forces. THE REST OF THE PACK -------------- ¶13. (C) According to observers, it is highly unlikely that any of the other nine presidential candidates will make it through to the second round of balloting. (Note: On May 19, the Supreme Court approved the candidacy of Pedro Infanda following his successful appeal of the May 13 decision disqualifying him. End Note.) Indeed, several of the candidates appear to have alternative objectives short of winning the poll. For example, Zihna Vaz told PolOff on May 5 that her candidacy was nothing more than a back-up option in the event that the Supreme Court had rejected the candidacy of Henrique Rosa. Vaz now intends to encourage her supporters to vote for Rosa. ¶14. (C) On May 4, Serifo Balde, who at 42 years old is the youngest candidate in the field, suggested to PolOff that he and other candidates were running for President in hopes of leveraging the votes of their supporters in the second round in exchange for later ministerial jobs. Balde expressed hope that Rosa will make it through to the second round but will remain open to negotiation with whoever prevails. ¶15. (C) Vieira,s long-time Chief of Staff Joao Cardosa told PolOff on May 6 that while he was in hiding in the weeks following Vieira,s assassination, he had a dream that inspired him to run for President. Cardosa,s candidacy, he said, sought to appeal to the intellectuals who would prefer not to vote for Rosa. De Souza, however, speculated that after years in government service as Vieira,s right-hand man, Cardosa hopes to use his candidacy as an entry point for negotiating a job with the next administration. PREPARATIONS FOR THE ELECTION -------------- ¶16. (SBU) Preparations remain on course for the June 28 poll. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the National Electoral Commission (CNE) stated that as of May 20, all the anticipated USD 5 million needed for the election had been raised or pledged. Those governments or organizations contributing to the poll include the European Commission (USD 1.5 million),the United Nations (USD 900,000),the Economic Community of West African States (USD 500,000),the United States (USD 300,000),Brazil (USD 200,000),China (USD 200,000) and Germany (USD 116,000). The government of Guinea-Bissau (GOGB) committed to contributing USD 500,000 of its own resources, while Portugal pledged to cover any funding gap, which stands at USD 400,000 as of May 20. The GOGB transferred USD 200,000 to the CNE on May 21 in its initial release of internal election funds. ¶17. (C) On May 4, CNE President Desejado Lima da Costa confirmed to PolOff that the CNE will use the voter lists from the November 16, 2008 legislative elections for the June 28 poll. While conceding that this will disenfranchise those citizens who have become eligible to vote or have moved since the July-August 2008 census was concluded, da Costa insisted that the GOGB faced insufficient time and money to update the voter lists. ¶18. (C) Da Costa, the former president of the National Workers Union of Guinea (UNTG),also dismissed the possibility that poll workers would strike for payment of salary arrears, as they did in October 2008, insisting that the GOGB had already budgeted for payment of 50 percent of the remaining election-related debt to workers and vendors. In a May 6 meeting with PolOff, the current head of the UNTG, Canal Mende, also downplayed the possibility of labor unrest in the run-up to the June 28 election, despite the fact that DAKAR 00000666 004 OF 004 the GOGB has managed to paid government salaries for only two of the last seven months. COMMENT -------------- ¶19. (C) If true, Gomes, rift with Sanha and his behind-the-scenes backing of Dabo provide further evidence that his authoritarian leadership style and his cut-throat brand of politics have resulted in the alienation of erstwhile supporters and in the undermining of his authority both within the PAIGC and the Prime Minister,s office. Instead of building and expanding coalitions to enable him to work more effectively, Gomes seems driven by intolerance for dissention and a desire for political retribution. If left unchecked, such petty personal politics could result in a return to distracting and harmful animosity between the President and Prime Minister ) similar that that which existed between Vieira and Gomes ) if Sanha wins the presidency. ¶20. (C) Among the major candidates, Rosa seems to represent the best hope for Guinea-Bissau. Smart, competent and clean, a Rosa presidency could signal a dramatic rupture from the corrupt oligarchy that has ruled Guinea-Bissau since its independence. A more likely outcome, however, is that Sanha and Yala will make it through to the second round, with Sanha, an old-guard stalwart and protector of the status quo, eventually winning. Regardless of the outcome, Gomes will need to set aside his divisive personal politics if Guinea-Bissau is to address the serious challenges that lie ahead. BERNICAT