GHANI CRITICIZES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR SLOW

UNCLAS KABUL 001563

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: GHANI CRITICIZES INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR SLOW
ACTION ON ELECTIONS SUPPORT


1. (SBU) Presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani told PolCouns
in a June 16 meeting that he was prepared to harshly
criticize the international community and USG for what he saw
as a "curiously unengaged" posture on the presidential
election. Ghani complained that the IC had not delivered on
promises to address media access and transportation issues
for opposition candidates before the official start of the
campaign. Ghani requested more forceful public statements
from the US on its neutrality in the election, and direct
rejections of reported efforts by Karzai to claim US support
for his campaign. PolCouns told Ghani the US would be
increasing its visibility and voice in these very areas,
continuing to engage heavily with all candidates, and
declaring publicly the US commitment to a credible, secure,
and inclusive election.


2. (SBU) On the first day of official campaigning, Ghani
himself took a curious approach to voter outreach, granting
an interview with CNN and authoring an op-ed column for
international papers. Ghani added that he would soon publish
his 335-page campaign manifesto, written in English, but
recently translated into Dari and Pashto. Ghani promised to
run an issues-based campaign, with particular focus on
individual issues every 10 days. He will begin with
corruption, highlighting the government's inability to
account for missing customs revenue. Employment, housing,
and security will follow as the campaign progresses. First
VP running mate Ayub Rafiqi, a relative unknown in Afghan
politics, will take the lead on agricultural issues. Ghani
hoped to win public endorsements from a collection of small
democratic parties within the next few weeks, as well as
collect support from minor presidential candidates as they
withdraw from the race. Ghani had purposefully decided not
to criticize Abdullah Abdullah -- "he is not our opponent" --
and revealed that he has maintained indirect contacts with
the Abdullah campaign to keep future options open.


3. (SBU) Ghani vowed to follow up his charges of Karzai
supporters' interference in the election with complaints to
the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC),but insisted the
IC support solid investigations and repercussions for those
found to have violated election laws. "We will lose
credibility and Afghans will devalue their votes if we take
cases to the ECC with no outcomes," he said. Ghani will
also ask the World Bank and Asia Foundation to drop their
commitments to fund key Palace staffers' salaries, including
Chief of Staff Daudzai, until those staffers can clearly show
they are not illegally engaged in election activities.
EIKENBERRY