VZCZCXRO1601
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHIHL #0036/01 0601220
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 011220Z MAR 07
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0801
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0860

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000036 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/1/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: GEO WARNS OF ELECTORAL WEAKNESS 
 
HILLAH 00000036  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Mark G. Davison, Team Leader, Provincial 
Reconstruction Team, DOS. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
¶1. (U)  This is a PRT Diwaniyah cable. 
¶2. (C)  Summary. In a 24 February meeting, Saad Madhloum 
Abdullah, the General Electoral Officer (GEO) for Diwaniyah 
Province under the (soon-to-be-abolished) Independent Electoral 
Commission in Iraq (IECI) warned that the Independent Higher 
Electoral Commission Law (IHEC) that was recently passed by the 
Council of Representatives (CoR) and is awaiting presidential 
signature will lead to excessive politicization of future 
elections, gerrymandering of election districts, and increased 
fraud; and that the only way that provincial council elections 
can be held before year end will be to delay implementation of 
the new law until after those elections are held. End Summary. 
TECHNOCRATS MAY BE REPLACED BY INCOMPETENTS 
¶3. (C)  On 24 February 2007, at REO Hillah, PRT Diwaniyah Team 
Leader and IPAO, and Embassy Baghdad Poloff, met with Diwaniyah 
GEO Saad Madhloum Abdullah  (Saad), at his request, to discuss 
his concerns about the IHEC. Saad noted that a number of 
"important and complicated" elections are to be held in the near 
future, involving (a) Provincial Council (PC) membership; (b) 
constitutional amendments; (c) status of Kirkuk; and (d) 
referendum on formation of regions. He described the current 
IECI membership (both local and central) as technocratic and 
non-partisan, because the members were chosen based on their 
competence, with U.N. involvement. Under the IHEC, by contrast, 
members will be chosen by the CoR and, as such, will be neither 
"politically independent" nor "competent and experienced," 
despite the requirements of the IHEC. As evidence, Saad stated 
that, when he asked a member of the Legal Committee of the CoR 
whether nominees would be subjected to a competency test, he 
laughed. Saad further predicted that the entire current staff of 
the IECI (some 1,000 persons) would be replaced by the party 
faithful. Saad noted that, while President Bush wants PC 
elections to be held in 2007, Saad believes it will take some 
6-7 months to stand up the IHEC, thus pushing back PC elections 
to 2008. 
KIRKUK TO THE KURDS AND A REGIONAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE SOUTH 
¶4. (C)  Saad speculates that the new law arises out of an 
accommodation between the Kurdish Alliance (KA) and SCIRI, under 
which the KA will support SCIRI in forming a regional government 
in Southern Iraq, while SCIRI will support the Kurds in assuming 
control of Kirkuk. In furtherance of this scheme, Saad said, the 
Board of Commissioners under the new law will turn a blind eye 
to what Saad predicted will be "widespread" voting fraud through 
manipulation of voter lists. (Note: Art. 10 of the law on the 
formation of regions gives the national office of the IECI 
responsibility for overseeing referenda on formation of regions. 
End Note.) As an example of the possibilities for mischief, Saad 
claimed that the current (and independent) GEO responsible for 
Kirkuk recently removed some 80,000 names that had improperly 
been placed on the voter lists. Saad said that the Diwaniyah 
voter lists were out of date and thus likewise easily subject to 
manipulation. Saad also predicted that the Kurdish Alliance and 
SCIRI would seek to solidify their positions by gerrymandering 
electoral districts. 
ALTERNATE COURSES OF ACTION 
¶5. (C)  When asked what could be done, Saad said that since the 
Presidency has not yet signed the IHEC, they could return it to 
the CoR for improvement. He acknowledged, however, that this was 
unlikely. As an alternative, Saad suggested that implementation 
of the IHEC be delayed until after PC elections, which would 
accordingly be overseen by the IECI. (Note: Saad did not propose 
a mechanism for implementation of this latter alternative. End 
Note.) As a second alternative, Saad asked that the Coalition 
put informal pressure on GOI to (a) appoint competent people as 
IHEC Commissioners, and (b) keep the current staff (which has, 
he noted, received substantial training from USG and UN). 
Embassy Poloff said that the Embassy would be watching the PC 
elections closely and would do what it could to ensure that the 
IHEC provisions relating to competency and independence were 
upheld. 
SEEKS ELECTORAL ASSISTANCE FOR DIWANIYAH -- IEAT NOTIFIED 
¶6. (C)  Saad stated that the Diwaniyah IECI had a number of 
needs: (a) additional office space; (b) generators and wireless 
laptops for use at the 19 polling stations; (c) staff training; 
(d) election assistance. Subsequent to the meeting with Saad, 
PRT Diwaniyah initiated discussions with the International 
Elections Action Team (IEAT) , regarding the request and the 
role that PRT Diwaniyah and the other REO Hillah-based PRTs 
could play with respect to elections in South Central Iraq. IEAT 
advises that it has in place a comprehensive strategic plan for 
electoral capacity building, but may have need for field-based 
assistance with local GEOs. PRT Diwaniyah will continue to 
explore these possibilities with IEAT. Comment: A potential 
complication with providing assistance is that Saad and his 
staff may not, by his own account, remain in their positions for 
very long, and that assistance we provide may be wasted, if his 
replacement does not share his concerns. Alternatively, 
assistance might be used by Saad as an argument to be retained, 
or by USG/IEAT as an entree to his successor, if he is not 
retained. End Comment. 
BIO NOTE 
 
HILLAH 00000036  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. (C)  Saad is a frequent and well-known visitor to REO Hillah. 
In addition to his electoral duties, he is a practicing 
attorney, a lecturer at Qadisiyah University, and a former 
International Visitor. He considers himself a technocrat without 
party affiliation. 
COMMENT 
¶8. (C)  Comment. Saad is of course not a completely objective 
observer, since the IHEC will adversely impact his and his 
staff's future employment prospects. Nevertheless, he is 
considered by the REO Hillah personnel with whom he has worked 
to be serious and thoughtful. End Comment. 
DAVISON