KARZAI, AFGHAN OPPOSITION LEADERS WELCOME US

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000936 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL AF SUBJECT: KARZAI, AFGHAN OPPOSITION LEADERS WELCOME US NEUTRALITY POLICY REF: 08 KABUL 2478 Classified By: CDA Francis Ricciardone for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. In April 5 and 6 conversations, President Karzai warmly welcomed SRAP Richard Holbrooke's statement of US policy toward the forthcoming elections: The US neither supports nor opposes any candidate, including Karzai, and will work with the government, the political opposition, the UN, and other international supporters of Afghanistan to conduct free and fair elections on a level playing field. Karzai said he had begun taking measures to combat electoral fraud and ensure a level playing for all presidential candidates. Various opposition leaders and likely presidential candidates told SRAP and JCS Chairman Adm. Mullen in separate conversations that nearly all major political leaders had accepted the need for Karzai to remain in office after the May 22 constitutional expiration of his term, but more needed to be done to ensure a level playing field for all candidates. Karzai and opposition leaders all urged that the international community and Afghan civil society play a stronger role in ensuring a fair election. SRAP Holbrooke told Karzai and the others that the USG would play a robust role in combating election fraud and would consider opposition proposals for other ways to ensure transparency in the election. Karzai: A Level Playing Field Is In My Interest As An "Underdog" -------------- ¶2. Karzai told SRAP he had recently signed a decree prohibiting security forces from interfering in electoral activities, and that the Ministry of Interior had already identified some 15 police officers who had engaged in improper campaign activities. SRAP compared Karzai's effort to the USG's Hatch Act (on April 9, Karzai welcomed Charge's personal delivery of the Hatch Act, regulations, and other information on federal employees' political activities. Karzai ordered an immediate translation and distribution to relevant ministries and staff - septel). In separate meetings with SRAP, Karzai claimed to be both the underdog and the favorite in the election. Karzai claimed other candidates were violating electoral laws by campaigning ahead of the official campaign season and raising large amounts of money from foreign and domestic sources. Karzai criticized the US for supporting an Afghan American candidate, which SRAP protested strongly. ¶3. SRAP welcomed the political consensus on both the August 20 election date and, more recently, the continuity of government under Karzai during the interim period. Now all parties could focus on the election itself. Adm. Mullen said the international community and Afghanistan needed a legitimate election with results that are accepted by the Afghan people. SRAP told Karzai promulgation of the media law is an urgent and important step in leveling the playing field and setting the stage for a more transparent election. Karzai said he would consult with Supreme Court Chief Justice Azimi on constitutional concerns with the law before ordering its publication in the official legal gazette (reftel). Ashraf Ghani: We Need a Fair Campaign -------------- ¶4. (C) SRAP Holbrooke and JCS Chairman Adm. Mullen thanked presidential candidate and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani for his consistent support for the August election date and Karzai remaining in office after the May 22 constitutional expiration of his term and through the inauguration of the next president. The US realized that its support of Karzai as interim president could lead some Afghans to believe that the US endorsed Karzai's re-election. The US neither supported nor opposed Karzai's campaign. Ghani agreed that US impartiality was important, and warned that while most major Afghan leaders and the Supreme Court had now signed on to Karzai's interim authority after May 22, some opposition leaders may re-ignite the debate in the period between the August 20 election and the inauguration of the election winner. ¶5. (C) Ghani recommended the international community and Afghan civil society coordinate an oversight commission to monitor allegations of voter registration fraud and campaign irregularities. He said experts from countries that had experienced voting irregularities, such as Mexico and Indonesia, would be the most effective monitors. Afghan political leaders must also take responsibility to run a clean campaign and support the role of Afghan security forces in providing security for the election. Ghani felt the government should impose a code of conduct on governors and other provincial officials, and remove them two months before KABUL 00000936 002 OF 002 the election so they could not influence the outcome. ¶6. (C) Ghani requested the US and other international partners to help ensure that National Directorate of Security (NDS),Ministry of Defense, and Ministry of Interior officials played an impartial role. He said the government should make an example of officials who had already abused their positions to interfere on Karzai's behalf by firing and prosecuting them. In addition, close attention should be paid to Karzai's top loyalists in key positions who were running his election campaign, namely Education Minister Farooq Wardak, Interior Minister Hanif Atmar, Independent Directorate of Local Governance Director Jelani Popal, and NDS chief Saleh. Abdullah: Campaign Can Now Begin -------------- ¶7. (C) SRAP Holbrooke welcomed former Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah's entrance into the race, but stressed that the US neither supported nor opposed any one candidate, including President Karzai. The US was pleased that most Afghan political leaders had agreed to support Karzai staying on as president through the inauguration of the election's winner. Abdullah believed that with a consensus nearly complete on the interim authority question, the political campaign could begin in earnest. Qanooni: Grudging Support for Continuity of Government -------------- ¶8. (C) Lower House Speaker Yunus Qanooni said he would support the Supreme Court's March 31 statement approving of Karzai's authority to remain in office after the May 22 constitutional expiration of his term and until the inauguration of the next president. Qanooni personally disagreed with the position, but said he would publicly support it "for the good of the country." He thanked SRAP for US commitments to the region and hoped new US and NATO strategies would improve security in Afghanistan and Pakistan. ¶9. (C) SRAP thanked Qanooni for his position on continuity of government and reiterated the US position that it neither supported nor opposed any one candidate for the presidency, including Karzai. The US was fully committed to ensuring no one candidate had improper influence over the outcome of this summer's election and welcomed input from political leaders on how best to achieve this level playing field among all candidates. ¶10. (C) Qanooni welcomed SRAP's efforts to advertise US neutrality in the presidential election, and agreed that an international commission should investigate charges of electoral fraud. Qanooni suggested Karzai's government be prohibited from making high-level personnel changes and issuing decrees after May 22. The government should also publish the media law, passed by the Lower House in September over the president's veto, to help ensure non-interference by state-run media on the incumbent's behalf (reftel). Tribal Leaders: Reconciliation Important Before Election -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Tribal elders from Khost, Paktia, Paktia, and Wardak told SRAP Karzai was the strongest candidate in the field, but they had not yet committed to an endorsement of any one candidate. The elders were skeptical about the potential for fair elections if large segments of the population -- including the Taliban -- were disenfranchised from voting, noting that voter registration was a slow as 30 percent in some southern and eastern provinces. Most elders felt reconciliation with the Taliban and other insurgents would need to occur before the election to ensure full national participation by all elements of Afghan society. In a separate meeting with SRAP and Adm. Mullen, Deputy Chairman of the Ulema Council Mawlawi Qiyum-u-Din Kashaf said he feared some Afghans in areas under Taliban control would not be able to participate in the elections and that it was the right of every Afghan citizen to participate in the election as a candidate or voter. He thought Afghan Taliban should be encouraged to join the government and run in the elections. ¶12. (U) SRAP's office cleared on this message. RICCIARDONE