President Preval Defends Election Antics Before Diplomatic

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 000975 SIPDIS STATE FOR S, C WHA, INL, DRL AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PASS TO AMCONSUL QUEBEC E.O. 12958: DECL: 2034/12/14 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR EAID HA SUBJECT: President Preval Defends Election Antics Before Diplomatic Corps CLASSIFIED BY: Kenneth Merten, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) Summary: At a 10 December meeting with the diplomatic corps, President Preval outlined his priorities for his last year in office and responded to criticisms about manipulation of the electoral process. Preval said that in his remaining 14 months he will dedicate his energies to consolidating stability in Haiti by securing constitutional reform, creating a political movement that transcends Haiti's failed party structure, and improving the performance of the police and the justice sector. In response to criticisms about the exclusion of Lavalas and other parties from the election and the Provisional Electoral Council's (CEP) manipulation of the position of the President's party on the ballot, Preval said the CEP is independent and not responsive to him. The Ambassador and the Ambassadors of Canada and the EU made it clear that continued manipulation of the election process by the CEP would undermine the credibility of the election and make donors think twice about financing the election. End summary. ¶2. (C) President Preval convoked the diplomatic corps to the Palace on 10 December to outline his vision for the remainder of his term. He said that he inherited a situation of great instability and has had to make strengthening public security and creating the conditions for economic stability his highest priority. Preval thanked MINUSTAH for its critical role in bringing violent gangs in Port-au-Prince under control and said that the UN's many missions in Haiti over the past 20 years have been the backbone of the stability Haiti enjoys today. Preval said that there were three things he still needs to accomplish to consolidate the gains already made in stabilizing Haiti: reforming the constitution to make it address today's needs, creating a political movement that can overcome the failure of Haiti's discredited political party system and improving the performance of the police and justice sector. ¶3. (C) Preval noted that the constitution was written in 1987, following the end of the Duvalier dictatorship, and that its tight controls on the Executive branch and its succession of elections reflected post-dictatorship concerns, but have proven over time to be a costly straight jacket that had impeded the Executive's role in governing a functioning state. He said that he had proposed a series of constitutional reforms at the end of the last legislature that would cut down on the frequency of elections (NB: currently there are costly by-elections every year) and would give the executive greater leeway to govern. He noted that he had specifically not asked parliament to reform the constitution in any way that would allow him to run for another presidential term. Parliament approved many of the proposed reforms (NB: though they didn't approve most of those that would have expanded executive powers). Preval said he is committed to seeing those reforms approved by the requisite second legislature and would ensure that elections are held early enough to allow Parliament to vote on the reforms before they expire (ND: on May 10). He said that between the first and second round of legislative elections in the spring of 2010, he will launch an effort to educate all prospective legislators on the constitutional reforms so they are prepared to consider them within days of the new legislature being seated. This, he said, was the first pillar of his strategy of bringing more stability to Haiti before he leaves office. ¶4. (C) Preval explained that the second pillar of stability was creating a ''political movement'' that would be responsive to the electorate where the political parties had failed. He said that he is not a believer in political parties and that his recent creation of ''Inite'' (Creole for ''Unity'') was primarily designed to consolidate a parliamentary coalition that supports his reforms. He said that local leaders (Casecs) wanted to join this movement and that he had expanded it to include local and national political leaders of all stripes. With most political parties, including his own Lespwa and the main opposition party Lavalas, in tatters, Preval argued that stability required the creation of a coalition along the lines of Inite. He denied that it was an electoral vehicle for him. ¶5. (C) Preval told the diplomatic corps that the last element of his strategy to strengthen stability was to improve the performance of law enforcement institutions, especially the police and the judiciary. He didn't elaborate on this proposal, but said that he had been working with the US and the UN on ideas for improving the rule of law. ¶6. (C) Before turning the floor over to the diplomatic corps, he said that he knew that many of them also wanted to hear his views on the election process. He started out by denying that he had any influence over the actions of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP),noting that, in his words, critics always claim that the President controls the CEP. He said that the CEP is independent of him, that he only knew one member of the CEP personally, and that the decisions they take are not consulted with him. He said that he had only met with the current CEP three times (NB: all in the past three weeks),implying that this was evidence that he should not be blamed for the CEP's decisions to exclude the major opposition parties from the elections (including Lavalas) nor for their recent ''lottery'' that gave the President's political movement the most advantageous spot on the ballot. ¶7. (C) Preval turned to UN SRSG Hedi Annabi to speak first for the diplomatic corps. Annabi thanked the President for giving the international community the chance to engage with him on the elections, and said that he and many of the Ambassadors present had concerns about the CEP's transparency. He argued that the decision to exclude the major opposition parties from the election and the CEP's latest actions on the ballot had generated significant bad faith between the CEP and the political parties and risked tainting the legitimacy of the elections. He acknowledged Preval's claim that the CEP was independent, but urged him to use his Presidential bully pulpit to convince the CEP to improve their performance and to win back the confidence of the opposition political parties. He said that future intransparent actions by the CEP to disadvantage opposition performance in the elections could at some point lead to a boycott by the opposition that is not in the interest of the government. Preval, again, denied any responsibility for the CEP's bad decisions and said that virtually every candidate who wants to participate will find a party to fit into, noting that many Lavalas candidates have joined his Inite movement. ¶8. (C) Ambassador Merten said that the United States shares the UN's concerns over the actions of the CEP as the CEP is the primary partner of the donor community in carrying out the elections. The lack of transparency in the recent actions of the CEP raises serious doubts about that partnership. If the international community has doubts about the integrity of the CEP, it will be difficult to establish a funding relationship and to explain that relationship to the American taxpayer. Ambassador Merten noted that the donor community would be meeting with the CEP on 11 December in a formal donor coordination mechanism (''table sectorielle'') to outline our concerns and see if there is enough confidence in the CEP to establish a partnership for the upcoming elections. ¶9. (C) The Canadian Ambassador and senior EU representative raised similar concerns. The Canadians said they are reconsidering their financial support for the elections, and the EU representative said that the European Parliament is also reconsidering their budget support program with Haiti. The EU representative said that they would be watching the CEP's upcoming (11 December) decision on which candidates are not ''qualified'' to participate in the elections, and expressed hope that the law would be applied fairly, excluding candidates with documented criminal histories (NB: there are currently several legislators who have had significant problems with the law) and not excluding opposition candidates who meet the qualifications. Preval shrugged his shoulders and restated his argument that the CEP is not controlled by him. ¶10. (C) Comment: Preval knew that there was significant discontent in the international community with the CEP's recent decisions and called this meeting, in all probability, to explain his strategy and to gauge the depth of donor discontent. The donors used it as an opportunity to fire a shot across his bow and to let him know that continued manipulation of the electoral process endangers not only electoral assistance but could also impact the broader relationship. He has stated with increasing regularity that his overarching goal for Haiti is ''stability'' a word he used six times in his opening remarks. Whether this is truly his overarching goal or something he thinks the international community most wants to hear is not clear. MERTEN