ELECTION DISPUTES IN CHUUK DELAY ANTICIPATED RUNOFF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLONIA 000038 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV SOCI PHUM FM SUBJECT: ELECTION DISPUTES IN CHUUK DELAY ANTICIPATED RUNOFF ELECTION REF: A. A) KOLONIA 28 ¶B. B) WEMHOENER-CUITE TO NEVILLE 27/3/09 E-MAIL AND PREVIOUS ¶1. (U) Summary: FSM national and Chuuk State elections took place on March 3, but state candidates still dispute the results. On March 26, the Chuuk State Supreme Court decided to hold a revote for voters in Honolulu on April 1 and hold the gubernatorial runoff election between the top two vote getters on April 6. The final outcome remains unclear. End Summary. Gubernatorial Dispute and Court Decision -------------- ¶2. (U) On March 11, gubernatorial candidate and former FSM Vice President Redley Killion submitted a complaint to the Chuuk State Supreme Court, contesting the results of the March 3 election (ref B). In the complaint, Killion raised concerns about count discrepancies from numerous polling sites. The complaints stated that final vote counts did not match the counts originally tallied in front of poll watchers. Individual complaints ranged from the single digits to approximately 60 at one site. The primary complaint, however, was that the government prevented approximately 800 voters in Hawaii from voting due to a disturbance at the polling site. According to the official results, Killion finished third in the election by about 120 votes. ¶3. (U) Chuuk State Assistant Attorney General Jason Robert confirmed to Political LES that the Chuuk State Supreme Court accepted Killion's complaint and determined that the state must hold a revote at the Honolulu polling site on April 1. In conjunction with this decision, the Court determined that the ballots should be counted immediately on site. Chuuk electoral regulations mandate that the state hold runoff elections between the top two vote getters in the event that no candidate receives a clear majority, within four weeks of the original vote. Thus the court postponed the runoff election until April 6. (Note: With the current count it will be impossible for any one candidate to obtain a clear majority through a revote in Honolulu alone. End Note.) Outcome Still to be Determined -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In his explanation of the recent court decision on Killion's case, Assistant AG Robert added that legal proceedings may not be over. Doone may decide to contest the decision or complain about other areas that Killion did not address. Due to other possible but not yet submitted cases, Robert was not sanguine about a revote taking place in Honolulu on April 1 as currently scheduled. ¶5. (SBU) In a meeting between FSM President Emmanuel Mori and Ambassador Hughes, Mori predicted that despite the many ups and downs in Chuuk, incumbent Governor Wesley Simina would eventually hold on to his position. FSM Foreign Secretary Lorin Robert (Chuuk) observed that the one true surprise was the amount of votes that Gillian Doone garnered. Although Doone is not making the promises of political largess that the other candidates are, he is clearly galvanizing a significant segments of voters who are registering a desire for change. Doone has not followed the traditional campaigning method of providing rice and other presents to supporters. Instead he has used a limited budget to use a CB radio to reach out to outer islands and focused his message on "issues." Secretary Robert further contended that Simina hopes that Killion wins his court case and subsequent revote because the amount of attention Doone is generating is not in Simina's interest. Other Complaints -------------- ¶6. (U) In a letter addressed to Mori and many others, Chuuk State Senator Peter Aten asked the federal government to implement marshal law as a means to enforce an orderly revote in Chuuk. Aten contends the initial state level elections were fraudulently conducted and require national oversight to correct the many wrong doings. Per the official ballot count, Aten, who had a reputation as a rising young leader in the Senate from the Faichuuk region, lost his bid for reelection. ¶7. (SBU) Bill Jaynes, editor of the only newspaper in the FSM, informed DCM Douglass that Attorney Kembo Mida is claiming there are serious allegations of fraud in Chuuk. Mida currently represents Killion. According to Jaynes, the allegations may be enough to "throw the entire election in doubt." He plans to publish some of the allegations in the next edition of the Kaselehlie Press (scheduled for an April 1 release). KOLONIA 00000038 002 OF 002 Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) To date Chuuk remains peaceful, but complaints about the state level elections continue to mount. Rumors also continue to swirl about whether or not Killion and Doone will eventually work together to replace Simina. Killion is distantly related to Simina and thus some of his extended family supporters may switch to Simina owing to clan allegiances in a runoff election. The state elections in Chuuk clearly were not incident free, from ballot stuffing (ref A) to voter disenfranchisement, and more importantly they are not yet over. President Mori absented himself from a long anticipated ground breaking ceremony for reconstruction of the main road in the capital island of Weno on March 26 in order to avoid any appearance of favoritism. Chuuk remains volatile and any outcome is still possible, including the still remote possibility of violence. End Comment. HUGHES