JANUARY 19 UNAMA MEETING: LONDON CONFERENCE,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000211 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KDEM PREL PGOV AF TU IR UK SUBJECT: JANUARY 19 UNAMA MEETING: LONDON CONFERENCE, ISTANBUL REGIONAL SUMMIT, AND THE AFGHAN ELECTIONS REF: KABUL 187 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: At the UNAMA meeting on January 19 SRSG Eide led a discussion on the JCMB, the London Conference, and the Parliamentary elections. The British do not yet have a formal agenda or speakers list for the London Conference and will work to circulate a draft communiqu in advance of the conference. Eide reported that the Independent Elections Commission (IEC) will likely announce postponement of the Afghan Parliamentary elections before the London Conference. Meeting participants agreed that the international community should attempt to reach consensus with its recommendations for electoral reform. Eide cited the Lower House of Parliament's list (reftel) as a positive example, but urged a realistic focus on those items that can be accomplished in time for a likely fall election. The SRSG also requested donor help with focusing UN headquarters' attention on the urgent need for recruitment of UN personnel in Afghanistan to assist with the elections. End Summary. London Conference -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The group briefly reviewed the status of Afghan-authored papers for the January 20 JCMB, held in Kabul (septel) in preparation for the London Conference. The consensus was that the JCMB should not endorse, but only "take note," of those papers which the GIRoA had not yet made available in final form. The British DCM noted that the London Conference agenda remained in flux and speakers are still being selected. He expected a draft communiqu would be ready for discussion o/a January 23-24. The conference will also include side events, including a conference for Afghan business leaders and a civil society event between British and Afghan NGOs. Representatives from Afghan and British civil society will also brief the London Conference itself. The Japanese reported that they are planning an Afghan Reintegration Trust Fund (ARTF) event post-London. Istanbul Regional Summit -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Turkish Ambassador briefed the group on a separate Regional Summit planned for Istanbul January 26. In addition to Afghanistan, invitees include all of Afghanistan's immediate neighbors, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the United States, the UK, Russia, NATO, the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC),the EU, and the EC. The Turkish Ambassador said that President Ahmadinejad of Iran had not yet confirmed his attendance. The Turkish Ambassador specified that the focus would be on trilateral Af-Pak-Turkey issues and education. Parliamentary Elections -------------- ¶4. (SBU) SRSG Eide cited the recommendations regarding electoral reform submitted to the Judiciary and Executive branches by the Lower House of Parliament (Wolesi Jirga - WJ) on January 17. The WJ noted that there were numerous "obstacles" to holding free and fair elections by May 22 and that only if these obstacles were removed would they support holding elections by that date. The postponement should continue until the obstacles were removed. The Parliament listed the need to ensure adequate security for the elections and disarm illegal groups; reform the IEC; amend the electoral law; and, if possible, distribute national ID cards. (Reftel) ¶5. (SBU) Eide recommended that the international community (IC) concentrate on pushing for accomplishable objectives: 1) making changes in IEC personnel and its mandate, to improve transparency; 2) adding preventative anti-fraud measures rather than concentrating just on fraud detection; 3) keeping the ECC's three international Commissioners (he specified that he wants at least one Muslim and to minimize the appearance of North American dominance). On this score, Eide said his ECC Commissioner search had yielded a "good number of positive replies" and that he will soon present a list of nominees. To the suggestion that international Afghans of respected caliber be selected, the SRSG said there were some dual-national Afghans on his list; 4) deciding earlier on where the polling centers will be; and 5) training the IEC Commissioners. Eide said that the IC should not appear to back less ambitious reforms than the Afghan Parliament's list but he again stressed that the IC should focus on what realistically could be "do-able" by September. ¶6. (SBU) The Canadian Ambassador raised the need to address KABUL 00000211 002 OF 002 candidate vetting improvements and Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) reform, to which Eide responded that these were important long term programs worthy of support but were not "do-able" by the fall. UNDP ELECT Chief Electoral Advisor Margie Cook added that she felt a national ID card should be addressed as part of a "broader package of reform." Ambassador Ricciardone suggested that we discuss with Qanooni what he feels is "do-able" before we decide on our own minimum conditions. Ambassador Eide responded that we could at least begin with the UNAMA list as he felt it was something we could all unite behind and noted that he would see Speaker Qanooni in a few hours. When Ambassador Ricciardone suggested we agree as a group on a list of minimum conditions before the London Conference, Eide said that he would rather keep the process informal but that he was hoping President Karzai would refer to the need for reform in his speech at London. He did not expect formal agreement on an electoral reform package from the GIRoA during the London Conference. ¶7. (SBU) Eide reported that he had spoken to IEC officials on January 18, and that they expected to declare the postponement of the elections until some time after Ramadan (which ends around September 9),but he was unsure whether the IEC would announce a specific date. Ambassador Ricciardone asked if the IEC had explained what reason they would give. According to Eide, when the IEC had cited the "lack of international funding," he had pressed the IEC not to blame the international community for the postponement, despite the 'evident temptation.' ¶8. (SBU) The British DCM asked what the UN will be offering in electoral support given the lack of a UNAMA mandate. Eide did not respond. Margie Cook said the IEC's budget submission of about 120 million USD was overestimated by about 20 million USD in one area and lacked about 60 million USD in other areas. She expected to arrive at a total donor request of about 160 million USD for the Parliamentary elections after ELECT had finished its internal review of the IEC budget, which she expected after January 23. DSRSG for Management Robert Watkins promised donors by next week a detailed financial report from ELECT on remaining funds from the 2008-09 basket of donor funds. He also promised a set of scenarios regarding what ELECT could accomplish if it handled all electoral assistance in-house, and what it could accomplish if it contracted out some support elements. ¶9. (SBU) Eide addressed the serious need for additional UNAMA and UNDP personnel in-country to provide even modest support to the elections. He said that he had told UN headquarters that the placement process needed to be undertaken urgently. He said that some UN agencies feel the current recruitment plan will put the UN even more "in the pocket of major donors." He worried at the prospect of a UNAMA mandate without implementing capability or authority. He hoped to have these questions answered before his departure, on March 6 (his successor is scheduled to arrive March 8). He requested donor assistance in moving the process forward at UN HQ as the UN's attention was naturally focused on Haiti for the time being. EIKENBERRY