JUNTA LETTER TO AU PSC PRESIDENT PING - ANOTHER

C O N F I D E N T I A L NOUAKCHOTT 000140 SECSTATE FOR AF - BOULWARE; AF/W - DENNISON/HEFLIN; USAU FOR MAYBURY; PARIS FOR KANEDA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2021 TAGS: PREL PGOV MR SUBJECT: JUNTA LETTER TO AU PSC PRESIDENT PING - ANOTHER DODGE Classified By: CDA Cornelius Walsh for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Summary: Embassy has received copy of letter written and sent February 12 from Junta Foreign Minister Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou to AU Peace and Security Commission President Jean Ping. In the letter, Mohamedou promises that the HCE will limit itself to national security only as of April 22, turn the government over to the President of the Senate, and allow the country to elect a new President in accordance with the elections slated by the Junta on June 6. While detailed in some respects, the letter skirts various serious questions such as the membership and direction of the Electoral Commission, whether the government under the direction of the Senate President would have the power to name or dismiss Ministers, and the continuing existence of the High Council of State with responsibility for national security. Neither the broad opposition coalition nor the presidential office have commented on the letter which leaked today. However, in our short reading of the letter, it appears to be another dodge by the Junta to avoid targeted sanctions, the only policy to which they have responded to date. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Begin rough translation: As I had the pleasure to inform you in my letter of February 4 and during our recent discussions in Addis, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania confirm their engagement to promptly and fully restore constitutional order in Mauritania and this return will conform to the terms of the constitution in effect as of the 20th of July 1991. In this regard and in response to your request for further details, I am pleased to clarify the following: Following the adoption on January 9, 2009 by both houses of the Mauritanian Parliament (National Assembly and Senate) of a road map towards presidential elections within six months, a presidential election will be held on June 6, 2009, with, if necessary and in conformity with Article 26 of the constitution, a second run-off election to be held within fifteen days, that is to say on the 20th of June, 2009. The election will be universal direct suffrage and the president so elected will hold a mandate for five years renewable only for another five. Conforming to the same road map, a law concerning the establishment of an independent electoral commission has been before the National Assembly and Senate since February 10 Eligibility for the June 6 presidential elections will be defined according to the unchanged terms of the Constitution in effect of July 20th, 1991. "Those eligible for the presidency will comprise all Mauritania born citizens enjoying full civil and political rights and between the ages of forty and seventy-five years on the day of the first round of the election". The dossiers of the candidates will be held by the Constitutional Council which will judge their applicability to all regulations and which will announce the results of the election. The conditions and acceptable forms of one's candidacy as well as the rules and regulations relating to the death and/or ineligibility of candidates for the presidency of the republic are determined by Mauritanian organic law (Article 26). This law is Ordinance 87289 of the 20th of October of 1987 which notes in Article 111: The following would be considered to be ineligible: members of the armed forces and security services on active duty, civil servants serving in regions affected by the elections, judges, all individuals with official municipal management responsibilities, and civil servants with budgetary and financial responsibilities. In the interim, the office of the president will be filled by the President of the Senate at least 45 days before the election of June 6, 2009 (Article 40) The Prime Minister and other members of the government will be considered as having resigned but will assure the continuing operations of the government (Article 40) until the inauguration of the new, democratically elected President and the formation of a new government. The role and prerogatives of the High Council of State will be limited to questions of national security. During the interim period, no constitutional changes may be made either through a referendum nor parliamentary action In accord with the efforts of the African Union and in the spirit of cooperation expressed earlier, I wish to renew our invitation given in our correspondence of February 4 to yourself and the members of the Commission of Peace and security to come to Mauritania and assure yourselves of the pragmatic steps underway to guarantee respect for the terms outlined above. Such a visit would allow the Mauritania authorities to reaffirm the guarantees that the presidential elections of June 6, 2009 will be transparent, free, and fair. Finally and in the same spirit of constructive engagement, I wish to inform you that we would be pleased to formally present these elements at the consultative meeting of 20th February which will bring together representatives of the African Union, the European Union, the Arab league, the United Nations, Francophonie and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Copies: Kadhafi/UA; Michel/EU; Amr Moussa/Arab League; Abdou Diouf/Francophonie; Ihsanoglu/OIC End translation. ¶3. (C) Cautions: The HCE remains intact. There is no definitive statement regarding the future nor the intentions of General Aziz. There is no discussion regarding what powers the President of the Senate will have during the "interim" regarding the prime Minister or the Ministers of his government. 45 days before the June 6 elections is April 22. Two weeks later, May 3, a third of the Senate will compete in national elections. Given a week for possible run-offs, and a week for installation, the current Senate President could be turned out in the weeks before the election. The organization, administration, and direction of the Independent Electoral Commission is now in the hands of the HCE and its parliamentary handmaidens. This, in accordance with the current voter census, would leave the fundamentals of the election in the hands of HCE appointed officials. While we have noted in the press, the HCE's calls for stringent transparency and non-partisanship, one cannot exclude the possibility of over-eager Waliyas or other officials packing the rolls for their sponsors. HANKINS