VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJM #0067/01 0051709
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 051709Z JAN 06
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9540
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000067 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MUSTAFA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG PBTS IS KPAL KDEM
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS SITREP 
#2: JANUARY 5, 2006: CEC DELIVERS RESIGNATION LETTER TO ABU 
MAZEN 
 
Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.    (C) Summary. The Central Elections Commission (CEC) 
January 4 delivered a letter to Palestinian Authority (PA) 
President Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) requesting that the 
commission be "relieved of its duties" for the January 25 
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections.  CEC Chief 
Electoral Officer Ammar Dweik January 5 reported that the 
letter was intended to convey the CEC's opposition to a 
January 4 PA cabinet decision that would enable PA security 
forces to vote in their respective duty stations, which the 
CEC charged would open the elections to potential fraud.  End 
summary. 
 
CEC Threatens Resignation 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.    (C) The CEC January 4 delivered a letter to Abu Mazen 
requesting that the nine-member commission, including 
Chairman Hanna Nasir and Chief Electoral Officer Ammar Dweik, 
be "relieved of its duties."  The request stemmed from the 
January 4 Palestinian cabinet decision that approved a PA 
Ministry of Interior (MOI) plan to allow Palestinian security 
personnel to vote where they are stationed, instead of the 
CEC plan requiring that security personnel cast ballots where 
they are registered to vote.  The PA cabinet decision 
contravened an earlier presidential decree by Abu Mazen 
supporting the CEC's position. 
 
¶3.    (C) During a January 5 telecon with ConGen Poloff, 
Dweik said that the commission's future role in the PLC 
elections rested in Abu Mazen's hands.  Dweik said that the 
CEC had previously agreed to the following conditions for 
early voting for the PA security forces, including: 
 
-- Voting that would commence three days prior to the January 
25 Election Day. 
 
-- Voting that would occur in the district where security 
personnel are registered. 
 
-- Voting in polling centers identified and managed by the 
CEC. 
 
¶4.    (C) Dweik said that PA Minister of Interior Nasser 
Yusif had advocated that security personnel vote in their 
installations rather than in polling stations operated by the 
CEC.  On January 4, the cabinet, based on recommendations 
from PA Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya' (Abu Ala'a) and Yusif, 
voted in favor of the MOI plan, namely: 
 
-- Early voting for security personnel to commence three days 
prior to the January 25 Election Day. 
 
-- Allowing security personnel to vote "out of district." 
For example, a security officer who is from Jenin, but is 
stationed in Hebron, would be allowed to vote in Hebron for 
elections in Jenin. 
 
-- Voting would take place in duty stations/barracks, not in 
designated CEC polling centers. 
 
¶5.    (C) Dweik said that the cabinet decision to allow 
voting in stations/barracks was in violation of PA Election 
Law and would undermine the legitimacy of the elections since 
it opened the process up to accusations of fraud and 
mismanagement.  Dweik questioned the motives of Abu Ala'a, 
adding that the CEC had briefed the Prime Minister several 
days earlier on the impracticalities of allowing security 
personnel to vote at their duty stations.  (Note: If the 
cabinet decision stands, the CEC would have to provide both 
national and district ballots to every installation, rather 
than keeping the respective district ballots confined to the 
actual voting districts.  End note.)  Dweik said that the 
PM's motives to push through a cabinet vote had raised the 
CEC's suspicions that it was done intentionally.  (Note: PLC 
candidate Salam Fayyad January 5 told the Consul General that 
Abu Ala'a is pushing this point to derail the elections, 
adding that Abu Ala'a and Nabil Sh'ath were very worried 
about Fatah's prospects in the PLC elections, including 
recent defections from Fatah to Fayyad's party.  End note.) 
 
CEC to Await Decision 
From Abu Mazen 
--------------------- 
 
¶6.    (C) Dweik said that the CEC would wait for a response 
from Abu Mazen to the commission's letter, adding that "he 
 
 
(Abu Mazen) must either solve the problem or appoint a new 
commission to handle the elections."  (Note: Fayyad also 
suggested to the Consul General that the resignation of the 
CEC members (if confirmed) would make it impossible, as a 
practical matter, to hold the elections as scheduled.  While 
Abu Mazen could theoretically appoint a new team at the CEC, 
Fayyad said that it was hard to imagine finding acceptable 
replacements at this late stage, especially in the wake of 
reported death threats to CEC officials.  Dweik had 
previously informed ConGen Pol FSN that he and CEC Chairman 
Hanna Nasir had received numerous death threats intended to 
encourage them to postpone the elections.  End note.)  Dweik 
indicated that the CEC would continue preparations for the 
elections in the interim, including the printing of ballots, 
voter education, and training its polling station staff. 
 
Summary of Local 
Press Coverage 
---------------- 
 
¶7.    (SBU) Palestinian dailies January 5 continued to report 
on campaigning in the run-up to the PLC elections.  Al-Quds 
listed on its front-page the campaign activities of various 
factions, including Fatah, "Reform and Change" (Hamas), 
Mustafa Barghouthi's "Independent Palestine," Martyr Abu Ali 
Mustafa (PFLP), and Fayyad's "Third Way."  The dailies also 
reported that al-Aqsa gunmen on January 4 took control of the 
CEC's offices in Rafah to protest the PA's arrest of one of 
its gunmen suspected in the kidnapping of three British 
nationals last week. 
 
-- Al-Quds published a public opinion poll from al-Aqsa 
University in the Gaza Strip that 82 percent of respondents 
planned to vote in the elections. 
 
-- Al-Ayyam reported that three candidates were competing for 
the lone PLC seat set aside for Christians in the Ramallah 
district.  The three candidates, Wisam Rafidi (PFLP), Muheeb 
Awad (Fatah), and Zuhayr Khalaf (independent), shared similar 
electoral agendas that emphasized their support for 
Palestinian Christians. 
 
Op-eds: 
 
-- Commentator Yahia Rabah wrote in al-Hayat al-Jadida that 
the USG appeared to favor holding the Palestinian elections 
on time but charged that the White House had provided only 
"lip service" on the issue. 
 
-- Bakr Misbah Taneera opined in al-Quds that Israel had 
fomented trouble and created obstacles to undermine the 
election process. 
 
-- Al-Ayyam ran a commentary by Muhammad Yaghi that 
criticized those who had called for a postponement of the 
elections, stressing that a delay would further damage 
Palestinian interests. 
 
WALLES