2009 ELECTIONS BUDGET PROPOSAL RELEASED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000893

DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S CARSON, AF/E, DRL Spring
NSC FOR MGAVIN
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM SOCI EAID AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: 2009 ELECTIONS BUDGET PROPOSAL RELEASED

REF: A) Khartoum 814, B)KHARTOUM 785, C) KHARTOUM 714, D) KHARTOUM
696,
E) KHARTOUM 578, F) KHARTOUM 400, G) KHARTOUM 223


1. (SBU) Summary: The National Elections Commission (NEC) announced
its 2009 budget of approximately $153 million USD on July 27, 2009,
down from an earlier request of more than one billion USD. The GNU
would commit approximately $72 million to 2009 elections
preparations and seek over $79 million from the international
community. Donors had earlier insisted on a comprehensive election
budget before making additional contributions. Due to the eight
month delayed budget, rapid procurement of voter registration
materials will be necessary. The UN has also expressed concern that
census results will be a major impediment to constituency
delimitation. Increased cooperation between the international
community and the NEC is encouraging but still has a long way to go.
End Summary

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NEC 2009 BUDGET ESTABLISHED
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2. (SBU) On July 22, poloff attended the biweekly donor working
group meeting and on July 23, the monthly meeting of the Electoral
Assistance Group (EAG) in Khartoum. UNMIS Chief Electoral Affairs
Officer Ray Kennedy reported that UNMIS and UNDP organized a two-day
workshop for the National Elections Commission (NEC) to identify
resource requirements for the NEC through the end of calendar year

2009. The resulting budget totaled $152,796,669 but excluded costs
for line items for which the NEC expected donor support, including
funds needed for voter registration transportation costs. Based on
this partial July-December 2009 budget, the GNU announced it will
fund $72,830,938 million for this period. This leaves a gap of
$79,965,731 for donors, UNMIS and UNDP to cover. UNDP Elections
Advisor Jorg Guzman cautioned

that all the money currently in the donor basket is committed to
fund establishment of the NEC. However, in a push to get more donor
funding, he has cast a positive light on future additional donor
commitments. Kennedy highlighted that after the voter registration
timeline and a 2009 comprehensive budget is released, the NEC will
begin focusing on its needs for 2010. (Note: Embassy contacts have
taken a more pessimistic view about meeting these funding goals. End
Note.) Donors as well as UN representatives at the meeting
expressed concern about the delayed budgeting process.


3. (SBU) UN officials flagged the procurement of voter registration
materials as a problem. With only three months left before voter
registration is due to begin, the UNDP will not be able to procure
materials through its channels. Therefore, the NEC, donors, and
UNDP will be obligated to find alternative means to get materials if
the voter registration timeline is to hold. UN officials noted an
improvement in the NEC's relationship with the international
community and UNMIS. The USAID-funded International Foundation for
Electoral Systems (IFES) advisor commented that the NEC is ?on the
right track.? However, the NEC is not yet adequately utilizing
outside advisors. They are still not integrated into the initial
development of election policies and procedures, and some advisors
only recently received copies of procedures for comment. Critical
steps, such as constituency delimitation, are underway without
advisor participation or consultation.

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CENSUS RESULTS ACCEPTANCE PROBLEMATIC
--------------


4. (SBU) Kennedy highlighted the SPLM's refusal to accept the census
as one of the primary challenges facing elections. Acceptance of
the census results is critical to the drawing of constituency
boundaries, constituency delimitation, and ultimately to the
legitimacy of the elections in the South. Incomplete census data in
sensitive areas such as Darfur and Southern Kordofan make the
drawing of technically acceptable limits difficult. NEC informed
UNMIS that national and state constituency delimitation is finished
in fifteen northern states and two southern states. Kennedy told
meeting participants that the UN is uneasy about the quality of
delimitation and accuracy of the data used. The issue is especially
acute in the South where delimitation has been very slow and refusal
to accept census results has impeded the process, Kennedy told the
group.


5. (SBU) Apportionment for the Southern Sudanese Legislative
Assembly (SSLA) was passed by law. According to the law, the SSLA
has 170 seats, out of which 102 (60 percent) are based on
geographical constituencies. The Southern Sudan Election High

KHARTOUM 00000893 002 OF 002


Commission must work closely with the Sudanese Election High
Commissions to delineate constituencies. As the South has completed
very little national, Southern Sudan or state level constituency
delimitation, the process will be more complicated than in the
North. In reporting to UNMIS, the NEC claimed that 98 percent of
state high commissions have been established with offices, bank
accounts and basic staff. UNMIS reports from the field, however,
indicated there are still significant staffing and capacity gaps in
some states.

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REFERENDA PREPARATION
--------------


6. (SBU) Kennedy appealed to donors to push the NCP and SPLM on
referendum preparation. He emphasized that the election process must
be done in tandem with preparation for the referenda in Southern
Sudan and Abyei. Referendum preparations cannot move forward
without the National Assembly passing needed legislation and
establishing the necessary commissions. Kennedy urged donors to
encourage the CPA parties to begin negotiations on the commissions'
membership now so that the commissions can be established at the
same time that the referendum law is enacted.


7. (SBU) UNMIS has received continuing reports of ?political space
issues.? Kennedy asked donors to report all instances of harassment
or other abuse of journalists, activists and politicians. Donors
offered examples of cases that have been reported, such as the
arrest of journalists reporting on elections in Southern Sudan and
National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) harassment of
political and voter education groups. In one instance, a NISS
officer openly sat in on political party training.


8. (SBU) AID-off attended an NEC Policy Committee meeting on July

23. Donors expressed concern to the NEC regarding the lack of a
comprehensive budget. Donors reiterated the need for an operational
plan and consolidated budget forecast through the end of the
electoral cycle April, 2010. Donors also remarked that only after
seeing a consolidated budget and the proposed financial commitment
of the GoS could they begin to release more funds.


9. (SBU) Comment: Establishment of the NEC budget through 2009, the
result of the NEC-UNDP conference, is a positive step, and a
necessary prerequisite to donor funding, although the pace of NEC
preparation for the elections and lack of a comprehensive elections
budget remain concerns. Post also sees the UN focus on the Southern
referendum, at the expense of the Abyei referendum, as problematic
in light of the volatility of the Abyei region.

WHITEHEAD