LIBERIA - LARGEST PARTIES PREPARE FOR RUN-OFF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MONROVIA 000841 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM LI SUBJECT: LIBERIA - LARGEST PARTIES PREPARE FOR RUN-OFF REF: A) MONROVIA 570 B) MONROVIA 691 C) MONROVIA 776 D) MONROVIA 821 E) MONROVIA 833 Classified By: Classified by: Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield for R easons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Ambassador called on Montserrado County Senate run-off candidates in separate November 18 meetings where she encouraged the Congress for Democratic Change's (CDC) Geraldine Doe Sheriff and Unity Party's (UP) to prevent the inciting of voters in the final November 24 round of the election. This follows troublesome messages heard on the campaign trail, including threats against National Elections Commission (NEC) James Fromayan and attempts to emphasize a "Country/Congo" divide between the more affluent, urbanized voters and poorer residents who retain connections to the countryside. Meanwhile, negotiations are on-going between the run-off participants and those candidates who didn't make it into the second round. Candidates and parties appear to be gravitating toward Doe-Sheriff unless they can secure promises of government appointments in exchange for supporting Urey, the candidate of President Sirleaf's UP. Urey will need all the help he can get. Even the president concedes that he is a poor campaigner. END SUMMARY. AMBASSADOR CAUTIONS CANDIDATES AGAINST INCITEMENT, DIVISIVENESS -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) In separate November 18 meetings with UP candidate Clemenceau Urey and CDC candidate Geraldine Doe-Sheriff, Ambassador discussed the candidates strategies for winning the November 24 Montserrado County by-election run-off (Ref E). The two candidates offered no clear tactical framework, but each was confident of his or her ability to win the final vote and claimed to be in negotiations for the endorsement of first round opponents. Ambassador passed a strong message to the candidates encouraging them to keep their supporters in line and not allow the inciting of violence in the run-off. She reiterated this message in public remarks to members of Liberia's major press outlets after the Urey meeting. ¶3. (C) The Ambassador's advice to the candidates follows reports of public messages on the campaign trail in the run-up to the November 10 vote meant to incite unrest among candidate supporters. Particularly troublesome are allegations that 2005 CDC presidential candidate George Weah warned a crowd on November 6 of "serious consequences" if his party's candidate, Doe-Sheriff, was "cheated." (Ambassador plans to meet with Weah to convey concerns about his statement.) Additionally, NEC Chairman James Fromayan told Ambassador in a November 17 meeting that he personally heard commentators on the Weah-owned Power FM radio station call for his ouster during election day broadcasts. During CDC rallies, some youth leaders even openly threatened to burn down Fromayan's house. The post-election period was subsequently marred by rowdy CDC youths intimidating NEC official completing final counting at Monrovia's City Hall before moving on to for a celebration of their candidate's first round win (Ref E). Slogans chanted at the follow-on rally warned the NEC against committing electoral fraud. ¶4. (C) Many party officials and other public officials have recently shared their fears of attempts to emphasize ethnic divisions among Liberians at pre-election rallies by exploiting Liberia's historic "Country/Congo," divide, which many believe led to Samuel Doe's 1980 coup. CDC commentators have attempted to link both President Sirleaf and her party's candidate, Clemenceau Urey with Liberia's Americo-Liberian ethnic group to gain support from Montserrado voters who retain strong links to Liberia's rural ethnic groups. A picture of Urey holding his nose was widely circulated in the local press with a caption noting Urey's reaction to being around poorer voters. UREY NOT PRESIDENT'S CANDIDATE OF CHOICE -------------- ¶5. (C) President Sirleaf herself was openly frank about UP candidate Urey's limited appeal in a November 16 meeting with Ambassador. She confirmed several widespread reports, including that Urey was not her preferred candidate. Sirleaf said that she favored Professor Wilson Tarpeh, (who eventually ran as the Alliance for Peace and Democracy candidate and placed third in the November 10 election) as the UP candidate. Tarpeh rebuffed Sirleaf's initial offer to run as UP candidate, instead preferring to run as an independent with UP support and the option of joining the president's party if he won. Sirleaf apparently was never informed of Tarpeh's counter offer and acquiesced to the selection of Urey. In the president's view, Urey has not MONROVIA 00000841 002 OF 002 been an effective campaigner. She noted that his strong showing was a direct result of her efforts on his behalf. However, she expects him to take his job as senator seriously if he wins. HORSE TRADING FOR SUPPORT -------------- ¶6. (C) Candidate horse trading for support has begun in earnest. Realizing the importance of this race for the UP, many candidates have reportedly offered to support Urey in exchange for the possibility of government appointments. Urey claims that Tarpeh has already provided campaigners for his team. However, Tarpeh has not announced his support for either candidate. Independent candidate and former warlord Alhaji Kromah allegedly proposed exchanging his support for eventual appointment as information minister. So far only the Liberty Party and National Democratic Party of Liberia have officially endorsed the CDC's Doe-Sheriff. However, a group claiming to represent supporters of first round Liberty Party candidate Darius Dillon has declared its support for Urey. A lack of party discipline among the country's smaller parties means that individual party members will likely offer support to the candidate who makes the offer that best meets their personal interests. ¶7. (C) COMMENT: Problems with the execution of this election by an inexperienced NEC exacerbated fears of possible electoral rigging. However, the NEC has admitted its shortcomings and appears dedicated to improving its operations in the run-up to the 2011 general election. More worrisome are the irresponsible attempts by some political forces to exploit ethnic differences among Liberians. These are becoming par for the course in Liberia's electoral battles, especially as many politicians with connections to the Americo-Liberian families who once dominated the country have jumped on the UP bandwagon. This "playing with fire" pandering to voters ignores the simmering divisions and suspicions that remain among voters in the countryside as infrastructure conditions remain poor outside the greater Monrovia area. The GOL and international partners must emphasize a message of unity while continuing to make development in the rural counties a focus of assistance programming. The Embassy will again field observer teams for the November 24 final round. THOMAS-GREENFIELD