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