EUROPEANS AND CANADIANS CONSIDER RESPONSE TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 001346 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID MZ SUBJECT: EUROPEANS AND CANADIANS CONSIDER RESPONSE TO MOZAMBIQUE'S FLAWED ELECTIONS Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Todd C. Chapman, Reasons 1.4(b+d) ¶1. (C)SUMMARY: A lack of transparency in the October 28 elections and other governance concerns have some donors considering a reduction in the $465 million of direct budget support provided to the GRM. Working together in the G-19 Donor Group (including the United States as an associate member),the group is debating the way forward, including the establishment of a formal negotiating mechanism with the GRM to address governance concerns. The Northern Europeans and Canada are firm in pressingfor action whereas the Southern Europeans wish not/not to send tough messages. The climate worsened when the European Commission (EC) in Brussels circulated a communique (COREU) to all EU capitals stating that the EC Representative in Mozambique should be empowered to lead all the EU countries in the negotiations on how best to respond on the question of budget support to the GRM. This instruction, sent on the same day that the Lisbon Treaty went into effect, caused consternation not only among many EU Ambassadors, but also reportedly in their capitals. The GRM is especially sensitive to any cuts in direct budget support, as contemplated by several governments, thus G-19 collective action is particularly effective. Such joint action is necessary, as civil society, media, and opposition parties warn that the longer the international community waits to express its concerns about the flawed elections and the declining governance indicators, the less credibility it will have. END SUMMARY. -------------- Ever-Growing Evidence of Elections Fraud -------------- ¶2. (C) Mozambique held presidential, parliamentary, and provincial elections on October 28 in which the ruling party captured 75 percent of the vote. The EU Observation Mission on October 30 released a preliminary statement which, like other international observer missions, criticized the lack of transparency during the electoral process which resulted in the exclusion of many opposition candidates. Though citing a number of irregularities, the preliminary report concluded that the election day was relatively well-run and peaceful. Since then, there has been growing evidence of substantial election fraud, which led the National Election Commission to throw out 16 percent of the registered votes in a single province. -------------- -------------- Donors Ask Whether 'Democratic Principles' Breached -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) The resident EU Ambassadors (plus Norway, Switzerland, and Canada) all are part of the 'G-19 donor group' in Mozambique which provides direct budget support to the GRM. (The United States joined as an Associate Member in 2009 but does not directly provide budget support). Guiding their $465 million in direct budget support pledged for 2010 is a memorandum of understanding with the GRM which states that if there were a breach of underlying democratic principles, it could warrant an immediate reduction of budget support. Events in the recent election are causing many members of the G-19 to question whether or not such a breach has occurred. -------------- -- Northern Europeans, Canadians Take a Tough Line -------------- -- ¶4. (C) The G-19 Heads of Mission met November 25 to review three options: 1) do nothing but request a deeper dialogue with the GRM on democracy and governance issues; 2) suspend but not cancel budget support payments pending GRM commitments on governance issues; and 3) declare an immediate breach of the underlying principles and reduce direct budget support, and launch a negotiation with the GRM on next steps to restore budget support. There was a wide range of views among the European and Canadian Ambassadors. The United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, and Sweden were all prepared to declare an immediate breach of the democratic principles and reduce budget support. The UK High Commissioner, along with the DFID representative, were firm in supporting the immediate declaration of a breach, an announcement of a reallocation of some amount of budget support to other projects, and the commencement of negotiations with the GRM to reach an agreement on steps which must be taken to restore the totality of budget support. The DFID representative said "we (the donors) have lost our credibility because we've been too patient for too long." The Nordic, the Irish, the MAPUTO 00001346 002 OF 003 German, and the Dutch Ambassadors also are considering reductions, but preferred first to suspend temporarily budget support to provide a "shock effect" to the GRM in anticipation of negotiations. The Irish Ambassador stated that his Development Minister thought the actions of the GRM in the recent elections "were sinister and we don't want to support countries with this kind of commitment to democracy." The German Ambassador agreed that there needed to be "some teeth" in the dialogue or the re-elected GRM President and his new cabinet, feeling stronger than ever, could ignore donor concerns completely. The Danish Ambassador said strong action was needed, not only to punish the GRM, but to protect future aid flows, which otherwise would be in jeopardy as capitals could lose faith in the budget support modality. The Charge supported a strong response to demonstrate donor concern about the well-demonstrated backsliding on governance issues and the numerous irregularities in the recently concluded elections. -------------- Southern Europeans Argue for Status Quo -------------- ¶5. (C) The Southern Europeans (Portugal, Spain, and Italy) resisted any tough message and argued for the status quo. The Portuguese Ambassador said that he was totally against ultimatums and that it was better to react only after receiving the final EU Election Observation Mission in January. He also said that Mozambique was "not that bad" when comparing its actions to others on the continent." (NOTE: Contacts at the Portuguese Embassy have readily admitted to Emboffs on numerous occasions that the complicated colonial history with Mozambique clouds what would otherwise be a tougher line on democracy issues. END NOTE). The EC Representative (an Italian national),clearly opposed to any tough messaging, argued that such political issues should be handled within the context of the regularly scheduled EU political dialogues with the GRM as called for in the Cotonou Agreement. -------------- Finns Try to Find a Common Ground -------------- ¶6. (C) The Finnish Chair of the G-19 proposed a way forward that would send a letter to the GRM noting the groups concerns, citing a "possible breach" of underlying democratic principles, and proposing the beginning of negotiations. The Swedish Ambassador encouraged using the democracy and governance concerns raised recently in the African Peer Review Mechanism in order to ensure maximum buy-in by the GRM. A sub-group of the G-19, the Democracy Platform Group, is drawing up a series of proposals for consideration by G-19 Heads of Mission for use in the eventual negotiations with the GRM. -------------- Fissures Are Growing between EU Countries -------------- ¶7. (C) As chair of the G-19, the Finnish Ambassador recently circulated a draft letter which sparked animated debate among the members, as the Portuguese and Spanish Ambassadors along with the EC Representative all backed away from a letter that censured the GRM in any way. The climate worsened when the EC in Brussels circulated a communique (COREU) to all EU capitals stating that the EC Ambassador in Mozambique should be empowered to lead the entire EU in regards to how the EU countries should respond on the question of budget support to the GRM. This instruction was sent out on the same day that the Lisbon Treaty went into effect, causing consternation not only among many EU Ambassadors, but also in their capitals. The UK High Commissioner stated that the EC instruction only confirmed his country's greatest fears about implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish Ambassador described it as a "blatant power-grab by the EC" which has now elevated attention to the issues in Mozambique as a test case for how the EC intends to exert its new powers. ¶8. (C) On December 4, the G-19 Heads of Mission met again to debate the issues. The EC Representative reiterated his opposition to a strong course of action, noted that political dialogue should take place within the Cotonou Agreement framework, and if a breach in underlying principles occurs it could lead to an "Article 69" declaration--"We would be putting Mozambique at the same level as Guinea and Sudan, which doesn't make sense." The UK High Commissioner MAPUTO 00001346 003 OF 003 responded that the EC has to respect its Cotonou commitments, but "the rest of us, as independent sovereign nations, have every right and intention to determine how best to administer our assistance to Mozambique." The Portuguese Ambassador said he was not convinced about the timing or the substance of the approach to the GRM. He noted that the results of the election were clear, a broad FRELIMO victory, and that minor adjustments would not have impacted the end result. The Swiss, Dutch, Norwegian, Swede, Danish, Canadian, British and U.S. representatives all argued for the sending of a joint letter noting collective concerns and the wish to begin a process to review formally concerns and devise a mutually-agreed upon action plan. The British complained that the COREU sent by the EC attempted to take matters out of local ambassadors' control, and argued that a rigid instruction from Brussels would not be acceptable to many countries. The meeting concluded with a joint effort to draft a letter to the GRM that would be delivered on December ¶7. -------------- -------------- COMMENT: Election Fraud Highlights Donor Differences -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) While the G-19 Donor Group struggles to maintain unity in presenting its concerns to the GRM, the diplomatic fracas provoked by the EC seeking to expand its mandate to manage EU members' responses has emerged as a most intriguing sub-plot in this drama. Frustrated especially by the procedural maneuverings of the EC and Portugal, the "Like Minded Countries" (Nordics, Dutch, Germans, Swiss, British, Canadians and the United States) are prepared to raise concerns jointly with the GRM should the G-19 mechanism fail to produce a clear result by December 7. The Charge has already separately telegraphed USG concerns in conversations with several Ministers and FRELIMO insiders, but there is great value in joining forces with others to add greater weight to the collective concerns. The GRM is especially sensitive to any cuts in direct budget support, as contemplated by several governments, thus G-19 collective action is particularly effective. Such joint action is necessary, as civil society, media, and opposition parties warn that the longer the international community waits to express its concerns about the flawed elections and the declining governance indicators, the less credibility it will have. CHAPMAN