Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KABUL313
2009-02-11 04:26:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kabul
Cable title:  

IEC "SATISFIED" WITH VOTER REGISTRATION AFTER

Tags:  KDEM PGOV AF 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7963
PP RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0313/01 0420426
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110426Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7327
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000313 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

KABUL FOR COS USFOR-A
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG
NSC FOR JWOOD
OSD FOR MCGRAW
CG CJTF-101, POLAD, JICCENT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF
SUBJECT: IEC "SATISFIED" WITH VOTER REGISTRATION AFTER
VISIT TO SOUTH

REF: A. KABUL 000237

B. 08 KABUL 003280

C. KABUL 000083

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000313

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

KABUL FOR COS USFOR-A
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG
NSC FOR JWOOD
OSD FOR MCGRAW
CG CJTF-101, POLAD, JICCENT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF
SUBJECT: IEC "SATISFIED" WITH VOTER REGISTRATION AFTER
VISIT TO SOUTH

REF: A. KABUL 000237

B. 08 KABUL 003280

C. KABUL 000083


1. (SBU) Two senior officials of the Independent Election
Commission (IEC),with ISAF support, traveled February 2-4 to
Helmand, Kandahar, and Uruzgan to monitor voter registration
operations, reach out to voters and key political figures,
and assess the neuralgic question of equitable Pashtun
participation in the electoral process. At the visit's
conclusion, Zekria Barakzai, the IEC's Deputy Chief Technical
Officer, pronounced that he and acting head of field
operations Zamari Qalamiar weQ "satisfied" with voter
registration in the south. Barakzai identified immediate
measures the IEC will take to increase women's participation
and explore the possibility of voter registration in Baghran,
a populous Helmand district inaccessible to the government.
Barakzai also noted "lessons learned" for election operations
in provinces where anti-government forces are active.


2. (SBU) The trip allowed IEC headquarters officials to
meet with regional and provincial election staff, inspect
provincial office operations, and observe voter registration
at sites in the capitals. The IEC in each province also met
with the governor or deputy governor, provincial council
members, Afghan police and army chiefs, and, except in
Kandahar, local community leaders. Noor Ali Jaberkhail, who
manages relations with governors for the Independent
Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) and who worked as a
technical expert on previous elections, accompanied the IEC
officials. Diplomats from the US, UK, and Netherlands
Embassies in Kabul, as well as a USAID representative, joined
the delegation for selected meetings in Helmand, and had
separate meetings in Kandahar and Uruzgan.

--------------
ADAPTING VOTER OUTREACH TO SUIT THE SOUTH
--------------


3. (SBU) "I tell my people that the voter registration card
is a political weapon," a tribal leader announced to the
delegation in Lashkar Gah. "It can be used against your
enemy and for your friend." The senior judge in Tarin Kowt
led an audience of local dignitaries in reciting Koran verses
saying Islam forbids changing political leaders by the sword.

As a result of such colorful exchanges, the IEC resolved to
adjust its outreach and education campaign in the south,
focusing on simple, direct messages and emphasizing
interviews and dialogs on key broadcast stations over the
more abstract media spots and printed materials developed at
IEC headquarters. Barakzai authorized provincial staff to
immediately contract additional jingle truck loudspeaker
broadcasts in Kandahar and Uruzgan. On February 10, Kandahar
and Helmand radio stations, with US Embassy funding, will
begin broadcasting spots featuring interviews with the Deputy
Minister of Haj, the Minister of Women Affairs, and a
religious scholar. The Australian government is funding
additional outreach for women voters in Uruzgan.


4. (SBU) Barakzai praised Governor Mangal as "a blessing
from God" for his frequent travel to Helmand's outlying
districts to encourage voters to participate, and asked
Jaberkhail to have IDLG push other Phase 4 governors to be
more active in outreach. IEC local officials reported the
strategy of using religious leaders as civic educators has
proved successful; in Kandahar, the chief and deputy chief of
the council of religious scholars (ulema) are IEC staff.
Two Kandahar council members, not employed by the IEC, were
killed after preaching mosque sermons encouraging women to
register to vote, but local observors are not certain whether
voter registration or the continuing campaign against
moderate religious figures was the cause.


5. (SBU) Barakzai pressed forward several measures the IEC
will adopt to facilitate women's participation in voter
registration and elections given the region's restrictive
social norms. The IEC will provide women-only transportation
for female election workers in urban areas, for example, and
fund the travel of the socially-obligatory male guardians
(muharrams) for women workers in remote areas. The Kandahar
PRT provided portable toilets for female staff, removing
another key constraint. Sahima Sahafee, a Helmandi
provincial council member, stressed that mobile teams are key
to women's ability to participate. The IEC instructed the

KABUL 00000313 002 OF 003


Helmand provincial office to assign more mobile teams to
women, and in both Helmand and Kandahar election staff will
advertise more widely the procedure communities use to
request a mobile team.

--------------
COUNTING PASHTUNS IN
--------------


6. (SBU) In the Phase 4 provinces of Helmand, Kandahar,
Uruzgan, and Nimroz, 259,925 new voters joined the rolls by
February 8, putting this Pashtun-dominated region on track to
parallel the participation rate in other regions (REF A.)
Demand to register to vote remains high despite the risk of
violence and voter intimidation. In the remote and unstable
district of Khas Uruzgan, new voters are lining up in the
snow. Helmandi tribal leaders report that residents of remote
Taliban-dominated areas are coming to Lashkar Gah to
register, even though the city sites are so busy the farmers
sometimes must wait two or three days to sign up.


7. (SBU) In Musa Qala, Afghan and international observers
quietly agree that local Taliban are registering to vote. In
Kandahar city, rural voters aQ storing their cards with
trusted trading partners to thwart Taliban efforts to
confiscate the document. The south's Regional Electoral
Officer (REO),Washi Alikozai, notes that some 100 Afghans
cross the Iranian border each day to register in Zaranj, and
as many as 300 each day cross the Pakistani border to
register in Spin Boldak. In Spin Boldak demand is so high
the IEC is opening an additional site.


8. (SBU) Kandahari political rivalry among supporters of
Ahmad Wali Karzai, the President's brother, and Gul Agha
Sherzai, now Governor of Nangarhar, is prompting both tribes
to rally to register to vote, experts say. So far, the IEC
appears to be managing well enough the demand for equal
access produced by the region's complex web of tribes.
Barakzai, the IEC's number two administrator, intimately
understands the politics of Pashtuns (REF B); he belongs to a
southern Pashtun tribe, attended high school in Kandahar, and
has large family landholdings in Farah. Barakzai spoke more
than two hours to rebut the skepticism of Kandahar provincial
council members about election security, and left the
gathering with a promise that each member of this diverse
group would encourage constituents to register.
Representatives of nine different tribes in Helmand all
confirmed they, and their extended family networks, have
voter cards. The IEC delegation heard out the complaints of
tribal elders from the five inaccessible Helmand districts,
and is planning to engage the leader of Baghran, the most
populous area, to secure access for a mobile registration
team.


9. (SBU) As in other regions (REF C),equal access will
continue to be a thorny issue. REO Washi, who earns high
marks from IEC headquarters for his understanding of local
tribal politics, notes that in "mixed" areas still more work
is needed. Some Kandaharis complain all the election workers
are from the REO's Alikozai tribe. In Uruzgan, the IEC
belatedly is working to open a center in Ghandab for the
small Hazara community living some 40 kilometers from the
site in Khas Uruzgan district. In Helmand, the Hazara deputy
chief of the provincial council complained he had not seen
even one Hazara working at the IEC provincial office.

--------------
THINKING AHEAD TO ELECTIONS
--------------


10. (SBU) The IEC delegation identified three points for
future cooperation with Afghan security forces and ISAF on
election security. First, the region's election officials
and security force chiefs agree a "good environment" across
the south is key to building public confidence in the run-up
to voting day. Second, the police are too few and lack
leadership and resources, especially in Uruzgan; Barakzai
plans to let the Interior Ministry and the Palace know of
this concern. Intelligence and military representatives in
Uruzgan were especially disgusted that, after a suicide
bomber disguised as a policeman attacked a police station on
February 2, the police stood by and refused even to remove
the corpses from the scene. Third, the IEC wants to see
closer and more timely cooperation between itself, Afghan

KABUL 00000313 003 OF 003


security forces, and ISAF for logistics and security support,
especially at the headquarters level.


11. (SBU) To improve election operations, the IEC
headquarters hopes to use ISAF transportation support to
conduct more oversight missions in the south and elsewhere.
The IEC also plans to supervise staff training more closely,
forestalling procedural errors such as the underage
registrations detected in Uruzgan. IEC officials note that,
across the region, a shortage of skilled, literate workers
poses a challenge; if possible, it may develop incentives to
allow it to transfer in staff from other Pashto-speaking
areas. For women staff, especially, the IEC plans to raise
salaries, now set at $200 per month, to attract more workers
from the small pool of suitable candidates. At the
provincial level, for the vote count, IEC offices need to add
storage space, purchase more satellite phones to transmit
results to headquarters, and replace some unreliable
equipment from the voter registration process.
WOOD