VZCZCXYZ0030
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPU #0511 0761636
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 171636Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2608
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0993
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0840
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL//OLE/OI//

C O N F I D E N T I A L PORT AU PRINCE 000511 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
DRL 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) 
TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2011 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: HAITI ELECTIONS: EMBASSY TURNS OFF NATIONALITY 
COMMISSION FOR NOW 
 
REF: A. 05 PAP 2690 
     ¶B. PAP 459 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons 1.4(b). 
 
¶1. (C) Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) President Max 
Mathurin told Charge on March 9 that "the executive" had 
prepared a letter from the nationality committee, an ad hoc 
group of cabinet members convened to prevent candidates 
holding foreign citizenship to run for office (ref A), 
requesting that the CEP remove two senatorial and three 
deputy candidates from the ballot because of their dual 
citizenship.  The Charge expressed grave concerns that any 
further CEP action to remove candidates on the basis of dual 
nationality could re-open a legal battle and further delay 
the second round.  Mathurin, however, seemed willing to 
consider the request and unworried about the consequences. 
(Note:  Mathurin confirmed that the letter included Rudy 
Boulos, the leading vote-getter for senator from the 
Northwest.   Boulos acquired Haitian and American citizenship 
at birth, and is prepared to argue that he never committed an 
expatriating act by naturalizing or otherwise renouncing his 
Haitian citizenship.  His removal and inevitable challenge 
would have further complicated the legal morass that 
surrounds the issue). 
 
¶2.    (C) The Charge subsequently contacted Prime Minister 
Latortue, who claimed to have no knowledge of such a letter, 
and that the nationality commission had completed its work 
with the removal of Dumarsais Simeus and Samir Mourra from 
the presidential race.   Following up with Canadian 
Ambassador Claude Bouchard, who was accompanying  the PM in 
Canada and Interior Minister Paul Magloire, Charge discovered 
on March 13 that Justice Minister Dorleans had drafted a 
letter to the CEP.  The PM and Magloire assured Bouchard and 
the Charge that the letter would not go forward. 
 
¶3. (C)  Comment.  This incident is the latest in a long list 
of examples of cabinet indiscipline and an exasperating lack 
of judgment on the part of key Haitian officials.   We were 
fortunate to have learned of this issue in time to head off 
potentially serious consequences, but the incident serves as 
a reminder that we must monitor every step of the  IGOH and 
the CEP as they stagger toward the completion of the 
transition process.  Dorleans had now placed himself at the 
center of two contentious issues --  his denunciation the 
previous week of the police agreement signed by the PM and 
the UN (ref B) had already effectively ruined his 
relationship with the PM -- and his actions merit particular 
scrutiny. 
SANDERSON