TAJIK ELECTIONS: CCER PROMISES FULL ACCESS FOR MONITORS,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000112 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TI SUBJECT: TAJIK ELECTIONS: CCER PROMISES FULL ACCESS FOR MONITORS, IRPT COMPLAINS OF REGISTRATION DELAYS REF: 09 DUSHANBE 1458 DUSHANBE 00000112 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Central Commission for Elections and Referenda (CCER) Chief Mirzoali Boltuev promised to enforce President Rahmon's call for free and fair elections in a January 25 meeting with Ambassador Gross. Boltuev said foreign and local election observers would have full access to monitor the voting process and vote counting. The CCER agreed to accredit U.S. Embassy American and locally engaged staff as election monitors. Boltuev said the CCER would direct precinct election committees to post copies of initial vote totals for public viewing. Despite these positive commitments, the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) has reported that its candidates have faced registration delays. END SUMMARY ¶2. (SBU) Mirzoali Boltuev, Chief of the CCER since 1996, pledged that February 28 parliamentary elections would be free and fair, citing President Rahmon's promise to ensure "transparent" elections and the presence of international monitors. The CCER would accredit 185 short and long-term observers from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),120 from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),and 40 from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),who would detect any cases of fraud. CCER Chief Boltuev promised to officially accredit observers from a Tajik NGO, the National Association of Political Scientists of Tajikistan, which plans to deploy over 700 local monitors through a European Union grant. ¶3. (SBU) The CCER also will accredit international observers from foreign diplomatic missions in Tajikistan. Boltuev noted "We have accreditation cards and briefing materials ready in English, Tajik, and Russian." The CCER agreed to accredit both American and locally engaged Embassy staff as observers. The Embassy will deploy monitors in and around Dushanbe, coordinate with ODIHR and other missions, and report on monitors' observations. Boltuev asked that observers report violations immediately to the CCER. "We read in the 2005 ODIHR report that there were instances of family voting. Where were they? If we don't know the name of the district and election officials, we can't do anything." ¶4. (SBU) Boltuev said that election officials must permit �0A;monitors to observe the full voting process, including vote counting, and said that the widely held belief that monitors must be eight meters from the counting table was incorrect. To improve transparency from 2005, the CCER Chief said he directed precinct election committees to post a copy of initial election results for public review. The results should remain posted for three days so that they can be cross-checked with the official totals later reported by the district and central election committees. ¶5. (SBU) Boltuev said the CCER would organize public election events in local constituencies and give political party representatives equal opportunity to participate. Political parties were free to organize their own campaign events independently of the CCER. "There should be no restriction." The CCER is not opposed to televised debates, but Boltuev added "We already give parties 30 minutes and candidates 15 minutes on television for free, but they don't want to use it." Boltuev said the CCER would treat the Social Democrats, the only party without a representative on the CCER, the same as every other party. "It is not an alien party. After all, Social-Democratic ideology is actually a Leninist idea, so I don't know why people are afraid." He added that the Social Democrats had representatives in many district election committees. IRPT COMPLAINS OF DELAYS IN CANDIDATE REGISTRATION ¶6. (SBU) The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) has complained that 20 candidates to the Sughd provincial legislature have faced registration delays and party members have not been included in some precinct election committees. Party leader Kabiri said "local officials have created artificial barriers" against party members. A locally engaged Embassy employee, Muhibulloh Qurbon, submitted application materials to run as an IRPT candidate for the Majlisi Namoyandagon in the Isfara district on January 11. Local officials told him he would not be officially registered until DUSHANBE 00000112 002.2 OF 002 February 5. Candidates can only begin their campaign after official registration is completed. A CCER official said they have not received any official complaints from opposition parties and that the process of candidate registration is ongoing. ODIHR is aware of the problem and is following up with the IRPT and the CCER. On the national level, the party is running 40 candidates for the Majlisi Namoyandagon (20 on its party list, 20 in individual mandate districts). ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: Boltuev has overseen a string of flawed Tajik elections since his appointment in 1996, so there is little comfort in his assurances that the 2010 polls will be free and fair. Boltuev's instructions to publicly post precinct vote totals and the CCER's offer to accredit as observers Embassy local staff and Tajik NGO representatives give us and other observers the means to test assurances. Elections are unlikely to be free and fair, and public apathy and lackadaisical campaigning reflect the widespread lack of faith in the government's commitment to democracy. The Embassy will coordinate with ODIHR to monitor party complaints and CCER responses and will deploy a robust monitoring group of American and local mission personnel to observe the February 28 polls. END COMMENT GROSS