This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001459 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2014 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM HA
SUBJECT: HAITI: CORE GROUP ALARMED BY SLOW PACE OF 
ELECTIONS PREPARATIONS 
 
REF: PAP 1088 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James B. Foley, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: UN and OAS elections advisors treated Core 
Group members to an alarming appraisal of the pace of 
elections preparations during a marathon meeting on May 20. 
The appraisal suggested that the government, CEP, and 
international community face an almost impossible task in 
meeting the registration deadline defined by the electoral 
calendar and highlighted again the apparent incapacity of the 
CEP and the IGOH to succeed in their mandate to provide 
successful elections. Valdes touted the accomplishments of 
recent discussions hosted by the UN among political party 
leaders, which have helped narrow the divisions on crucial 
issues of justice and governability ahead of the elections. 
Septel will report on other Core Group issues, including 
operations in Cite Soleil and the Neptune situation.  End 
summary. 
 
Elections Preparations Behind Schedule 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Core Group members greeted with skepticism UN Deputy 
elections chief Denis Racicot's assessment that "there is 
still enough space" in the electoral calendar to realize 
election plans. Racicot reported that several deals are under 
discussion to attempt to close the $22m deficit in the $60.7m 
overall elections budget. He highlighted recent discussions 
with the EU for $8m, Japan for $1.5-3m, and pledges by the 
U.S. for $8m. He also said a recent evaluation of the budget 
by Canadian expert Ron Gould strongly recommended further, 
permanent assistance from budget experts to fine tune and 
administer the plan. 
 
¶3. (C) Racicot's matter-of-fact update on the registration 
program, however, was nothing short of alarming. As of May 
19, less than 20 of the planned 424 registration centers were 
open (almost 2 months since registration was supposed to 
begin and one month since the first center actually opened), 
and as of May 20 only 55,000 people had registered. Core 
Group members (in particular the Canadian and Mexican 
Ambassadors) were quick to point out that there were only 142 
days left until the election and only 82 days left until 
voter rolls were due, suggesting a "mathematical 
impossibility" that registration could be completed in time. 
Racicot said that UNOPS (which is responsible for 
refurbishing and preparing registration centers) expected to 
have a total of 148 sites open by June 17, but gave no date 
for the completion of the entire network of 424 centers. 
(Note: If registration closes as originally planned on July 
31 in order to have voter lists prepared by August 9, two 
months before the first election, the program would have to 
register over 40,000 people per day every day, simply to get 
to a modest goal of 3 million Haitians. End note). 
 
¶4. (C) Valdes said it was clear that something had to be done 
quickly to address the situation. OAS Elections Chief 
Elizabeth Spehar responded that there were three possible 
options: A) a massive effort to open new centers, B) change 
the electoral calendar, or C) change the registration 
methodology to make it more simple. Spehar said the OAS was 
focusing for the moment on option A and had developed an 
urgent strategy to increase registration. First, the OAS was 
moving quickly to open 30 "priority sites" that would serve 
the largest density of potential voters. She said that these 
sites could potentially register up to 60% of the entire 
electorate. Secondly, the OAS was attempting to add more 
computers and people to the registration centers that were 
already open in order to serve more people. Third, OAS 
organizers were launching 30 mobile registration centers on 
June 1 (with a total of 75 on the road by July 1) in order to 
begin serving areas where permanent stations were still 
unavailable. 
 
¶5. (C) Spehar proclaimed the OAS strategies "have a chance" 
at working, but admitted that some existing centers were 
underutilized and that the plan did not address the meager 
efforts undertaken to date to motivate people to register. 
While UNOPS claims radio announcements, banners and T-shirts 
are already available, Spehar said it was clear more needed 
to be done. Valdes suggested he would raise the issue also 
with the political parties in order to ask their assistance 
in motivating the population to register. 
 
OAS Blames CEP and government 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) OAS Ambassador Denneth Modeste put most of the blame 
for the slow pace of registration upon the CEP, telling Core 
Group members May 20 "no matter what options the 
international community discusses, the elections will not 
succeed until the CEP is willing to take on its task." He 
said the CEP "cannot deliver" and called for the Core Group 
to "ring the alarm bells" collectively with the CEP and the 
IGOH. Racicot concurred that many of the problems were 
traceable back to CEP/IGOH foot-dragging on everything from 
selecting registration sites to training staff. Valdes said 
he was worried about the CEP and said it was imperative for 
the Core Group to assist them. In particular, he decried the 
CEP's recent refusal to accept assistance from CARICOM, 
despite support from both the PM and political parties to 
welcome it. Valdes asked Core Group members to persuade the 
CEP to accept CARICOM elections aid. 

Parties Weigh in on Neptune, Gousse 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) During the same Core Group meeting, SRSG Valdes 
provided a more positive report on discussions among 
political party leaders hosted by the UN in the wake of the 
UNSC visit (ref A). Valdes said that a May 11 meeting, 
organized by MINUSTAH in response to a request from several 
party leaders, had generated a welcome sense of cooperation 
and civic activity among participants, including several from 
Lavalas.  Most notably, the politicians had come together on 
the subject of certain sensitive detainees.  While the 
majority was unwilling to join Lavalas leaders' call for the 
liberation of all "political prisoners," they had created a 
commission to try to resolve the issue of "prolonged arrest." 
 Valdes explained that those political parties with a 
realistic chance of winning in fall elections wanted to get 
rid of potential human rights problems and therefore leaned 
towards releasing certain sensitive prisoners, Neptune in 
particular. Lesly Voltaire told Valdes that if Neptune and a 
few others were released, he could envision a "political 
accord" with Lavalas on elections. 
 
¶8. (C) The political party meeting had spawned other 
commissions and activities, including a committee on 
"Governability" to devise common principles and a working 
group on "Transition" charged with planning for the handover 
of power in 2006.  The political parties also agreed to hold 
a joint meeting with the PM and the CEP, and expressed 
interest in taking on other subjects as a group, including 
the Cite Soleil situation and reform of the Haitian National 
Police (HNP).  Valdes admitted that the problems between the 
parties had not disappeared, but he said the meeting, which 
would be followed by another on May 25, had achieved 
noticeable progress. 
 
¶9. (C) Valdes said that practically all participants agreed 
that the Prime Minister and President should complete their 
terms, but many suggested the IGOH should replace some 
members of the cabinet, especially Justice Minister Gousse. 
(The PM later reported to Valdes that the "Transition" group 
told him they supported the IGOH but "suggested" certain 
ministers be changed.)  Valdes claimed that the President 
favored replacing Gousse, but was concerned about creating a 
"martyr for Haitian sovereignty" if it were perceived that 
Gousse was ditched in order to free Neptune.  The French 
Ambassador cautioned that the President and PM had not made 
up their minds on Gousse.  Valdes said replacing Gousse would 
be a good thing for both justice and security in Haiti, but 
that the timing was certainly delicate. He alluded to recent 
allegations against HNP Director General (DG) Leon Charles 
(accused of using his post in the HNP to privately benefit 
from a commission set up to compensate victims from the 
former government's cooperative financial debacle) and said 
that the weak position of Gousse, Charles, and State 
Secretary for Public Security David Basile, was frustrating 
any coherent IGOH response to security challenges. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (C) It is indeed time for alarm bells regarding elections 
preparations.  Blame for the sluggish registration process 
can be shared all around.  UNOPS and UN are responsible for 
identifying the registration sites, refurbishing them and 
making them available to the OAS, which is responsible for 
furnishing the necessary equipment, and hiring, training, and 
overseeing the registration workers.  MINUSTAH's cash flow 
problem meant UNOPS did not get funded to move quickly enough 
back in early spring, so UNOPS was slow to open sites. 
Communication and fingerpointing still hamper OAS-UN 
interaction, though that has improved.  The IGOH has dithered 
in providing public building sites (many of which are 
available and more easily refurbished), and in other matters 
including formally publishing the electoral calendar and 
issuing the decree that legalizes the digital voter 
registration card as an ID.  For its part the CEP has been 
distracted by relatively minor issues (for example, CEP 
member Francois Benoit's continuing insistence on buying a 
satellite system to deliver voter results) and hampered by 
its continuing lack of operational staff and continued bad 
blood among some members.  We are calling on Core Group 
members to put the CEP and the IGOH on the spot and press 
them to focus on what is needed now; namely, a significant 
effort to ensure a successful registration process.  The 
underlying message is that the election is first and foremost 
a Haitian responsibility.  That said, the reality is that 
successful elections according to the current timetable will 
require far more effort and engagement from the international 
community than was originally thought.   End comment. 
FOLEY