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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ISLAMABAD 010467 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
USAID PASS TO MARK WARD AND RICKI GOLD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL PK AADP EAID
SUBJECT: ELECTION COMMISSION STARTS TO UNVEIL ITS PLAN FOR 
2007 ELECTIONS - IMPLICATIONS FOR US SUPPORT 
 
REF: ISLAMABAD 9890 
 
ISLAMABAD 00010467  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR RYAN C. CROCKER; REASON 1.4 (g) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: Encouraging developments out of the Election 
Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and from senior GOP officials 
indicate that US-led international pressure may be chipping 
away at the business-as-usual approach many expected from 
Pakistan,s electoral machinery.  Building on over one year 
of USG analysis and consultations with political parties, 
NGOs, election officials, and international experts, the US 
is pursuing a multi-donor strategy that includes continued 
diplomatic-level dialogue backed up by technical assistance 
and commodities.  Reftel laid out our strategy.  Now is the 
time to move forward. End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Pakistan,s new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) met 
with a 15-member European Union ambassador,s delegation late 
last week.  At that meeting, which received extensive 
coverage in both the broadcast and print national media, the 
Commissioner reiterated his commitment to overseeing free and 
fair parliamentary elections that will be   "credible by any 
standard" and within the constitutionally mandated timeframe 
of November 15, 2007 to January 15, 2008. 
 
¶3.  (U) In his briefing for EU ambassadors, the CEC 
described, in essence, all elements of the assistance program 
the Election Commission had negotiated with USAID over the 
last year, including computerized voter lists, transparent 
ballot boxes, and Election Commission engagement with all 
major political parties in the development of an Electoral 
Code of Conduct. 
 
¶4. (U) The computerized electoral rolls were characterized by 
the CEC as a "sine qua non" for free and fair elections in 
the 2007 national elections and those that follow in the 
future.  The old manual voter lists used in the past were 
open to manipulation and could not be updated to correct 
errors, add those who had reached voting age, or to remove 
the names of those who had died. 
 
¶5. (U) Of particular importance to the opposition parties and 
local-level Election Commission officials alike was the 
announcement that transparent ballot boxes would be placed in 
each of the country,s polling stations.  The opposition 
parties do not view transparent ballot boxes as a silver 
bullet that will somehow right all electoral-process wrongs, 
but instead regard them as an important confidence-building 
measure.  Election officials, meanwhile, are breathing a sigh 
of relief at the prospect of distributing lightweight plastic 
boxes to polling stations instead of the ten-pound 
monstrosities they had to lug around in the past.  (Note: 
This was mentioned as a particular concern of female election 
officials. End Note.) 
 
¶6.  (C)  Post also met with the newly appointed Minister of 
Information over the weekend.  He described his meeting 
earlier that day with the Election Commission Secretary. At 
that meeting, the Minister told the Secretary that the 
government wants the ECP to be more independent and to act 
with more confidence.  (Note: On paper, Pakistan,s and 
India,s Election Commissions have an equal degree of 
independence.  The difference is that India,s Chief Election 
Commissioners of late have flexed their muscles and made use 
of their independence thereby raising the quality of and 
respect for that country,s election process.  Meanwhile, 
Pakistan,s CECs have traditionally been timid and behaved as 
if they worked for the sitting government.  End Note.) The 
Minister of Information offered the Election Commission free 
access to government-owned airwaves to provide public 
education on voter registration and voting procedures.  He 
 
ISLAMABAD 00010467  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
also encouraged the Election Commission to engage with all 
political parties, including the opposition. 
 
¶7.  (C)  Reiterating the President,s and Prime Minister,s 
commitment to free and fair elections, the Information 
Minister offered to serve as a conduit for exchange of views 
between the US and his bosses.  He said he understands the 
importance the international community attaches to the 
upcoming elections and said that Pakistan does not want to be 
embarrassed. 
 
¶8.  (C) US Support for the Elections 
 
USAID, working in close consultation over the past year with 
POL, political parties, NGOs, and like-minded diplomatic 
missions in Islamabad, has outlined a program to support the 
electoral process, which reflects present and projected 
resource envelopes, on-the-ground realities in Pakistan, and 
priorities identified by those who know the present system,s 
flaws best.  Elements of the US program include the following: 
 
--Computerized Electoral Rolls.  As noted in para. 4, the 
Election Commission has characterized computerized voter 
lists as a sine qua non for free and fair elections.  Without 
US assistance, however, this will not get done. Although the 
Election Commission has already started the process, our 
technical assistance and limited computer equipment are 
necessary to get the job completed by the Fall of 2007. 
 
--Transparent Ballot Boxes. Outsiders may see these as fig 
leaves that cannot adequately cover Pakistan,s other 
electoral weaknesses.  However, the importance civil society 
and opposition parties attach to this confidence-building 
measure cannot be overstated. No one is nave enough to view 
transparent ballot boxes as a silver bullet, but all see them 
as a necessary and much-appreciated step in the right 
direction. 
 
--Political Party Engagement.  Two of the chief criticisms of 
past elections have been that the government apparatus has 
always mobilized to support ruling party candidates and that 
the Election Commission has had a closed-door policy with 
opposition parties.  That the Election Commission has now 
committed to working with all political parties constitutes 
real progress.  The UNDP will act as a public  "front" in 
coordinating Election Commission/political party 
consultations while USAID programming will provide assistance 
to the political parties to help make the exchanges as 
constructive and productive as possible.  (Note: This 
assistance is in addition to already-existing NDI programs 
funded by USAID and DRL that are helping political parties 
understand how to organize campaigns, improve internal 
democracy, develop messages, conduct member drives, and groom 
future leaders. End Note) 
 
--Funding levels for the USG assistance outlined above total 
approximately $16 million. 
 
--Other election-related USAID programming in 2007.  The 
above longer-term activities will be augmented by some 
combination of election-observation support, election-worker 
training, election-process assessment, and post-election 
after actions totaling approximately $3 million.  Decisions 
on the precise mix of these activities will be made once we 
get clarity on the type and levels of support that will be 
provided by other donors, most notably, DfID, the EU, Canada, 
Norway, Australia and UNDP. 
 
¶9.  (C)  Pakistan,s political parties and politically 
oriented NGOs also identify interference from security and 
intelligence agencies as well as intimidation and violence 
 
ISLAMABAD 00010467  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
tactics used by various political parties as key issues 
impeding free and fair elections in the past.  Such issues, 
however, do not lend themselves to development project 
programming. To complement our proposed programming, these 
issues will continue to be talking points for the US Embassy 
and for representatives of all like-minded diplomatic 
missions in Islamabad. 
 
¶10.  (C)  Comment:  The US anticipated and began planning its 
support for the 2007 elections over one year ago.  Ongoing 
meetings with every  major political party, participation in 
the numerous fora where the political parties have met 
collectively, combined with regular meetings with politically 
active NGOs and listening to the concerns of national, 
provincial and local election officials has allowed post to 
understand the critical weaknesses that could impede free and 
fair elections in Pakistan and to gauge our response 
accordingly.  We have found an unusual degree of agreement 
among these diverse actors on what they believe is necessary 
to improve the credibility of elections.  Over the next 18 
months, US programming and diplomatic dialogue will largely 
go toward helping the system respond to these demands and 
improving the dialogue between the Election Commission and 
the political parties that depend on it to oversee quality 
elections.  Although some degree of back-sliding can be 
expected over the coming months, the attention the Election 
Commission and GOP are giving to upcoming elections this 
early in the game indicates that the international 
community,s  message is being clearly received.  We laid out 
our thoughts on a  comprehensive election strategy in reftel. 
 These recent developments are another indication that we are 
on the right track in terms of timing and substance.  We need 
to move now. End Comment. 
CROCKER