VZCZCXRO6216
OO RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #0464 0311437
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 311437Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4782
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 8103
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 7156
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 2730
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI PRIORITY 8804
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE PRIORITY 4709
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR PRIORITY 3396
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHWSMRC/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 000464 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN ELECTION OBSERVATION 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary and Action Request.  We need to move 
quickly to field an election observation team to partially 
fill the hole left by the International Republican 
Institute's (IRI) decision not to return its observer team to 
Pakistan.  We recommend that USAID support Democracy 
International under a cooperative agreement to conduct the 
election observation activity, using the security firm and 
pre-identified observers that IRI had employed. 
USAID/Pakistan is ready to contact Democracy International to 
request them to submit a proposal for funding for 20-40 
observers with a mission to cover all four Pakistani 
provinces, with a concentration on the southern Punjab. 
Ambassador will formally notify President Musharraf of IRI's 
decision by letter and request full GOP cooperation for a 
Democracy International mission.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  The January 30 decision by IRI to not return its 
election observation mission to Pakistan comes as a great 
disappointment.  In particular, taking this action eighteen 
days before the election leaves us with few options to field 
a presence of professional election observers.  The USG has 
an enormous stake in helping Pakistan democratically elect a 
government that will be seen by its people as legitimate. 
Without that perception of legitimacy, the next government 
will not be able to effectively support our mutual fight 
against extremism.  The elections here were never going to be 
perfect, but the presence of international observers would, 
and still can, deter electoral irregularities.  We do not 
believe it is in the USG interest for the European Union to 
have the only international monitoring team on the ground in 
Pakistan.  Therefore, we want to move forward quickly to 
replace the IRI team to the limited extent that might be 
possible. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  We know USAID is considering several options. 
After reviewing them, we have concluded that the quickest 
choice is to support Democracy International to manage the 
election observation activity.  We realize that a contractor 
will not have the same reputation for independence as IRI 
enjoys, but we see no other option given the limited time at 
hand.  This will allow us to add a significant number of 
observers on the ground quickly. If Democracy International 
uses the pre-identified IRI observers, they will have 
international experience as well.  USAID/Pakistan will 
provide funding to Democracy International through a 
cooperative agreement rather than a contract, since a 
cooperative agreement provides a level of independence 
appropriate for this activity.  The Asia Foundation is doing 
good work here with its domestic observer team, but it has 
its hands full and its local partner has created some 
conflict of interest issues by publicly criticizing the 
government.  We also understand the TAF board would have to 
make the call at an upcoming meeting, thus adding more delay 
to a decision to move forward. Therefore, we do not believe 
that TAF would be the ideal partner for this international 
observation mission. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  We are proposing a team of 20-40 observers with a 
mission to cover all four of Pakistan's provinces, with a 
concentration on the southern Punjab.  IRI has asked its 
four-man Global Security to remain in place with already 
acquired cars, vests and radio assets.  IRI has also agreed 
to share the list of long-term international observers who 
were already planning to participate in observations here. 
Post will work with SCA/PAB and the MFA to expedite visa 
issuance to Democracy International's staff. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Action Request:  Please advise by COB February 1 if 
there are any objections to our moving ahead immediately to 
engage Democracy International. 
 
 
 
PATTERSON