VZCZCXRO0639
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1678/01 2891207
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 161207Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7058
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1666
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1480
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0911
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1326

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001678 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA
SUBJECT: LESPWA STILL FAR FROM TRANSFORMING INTO A 
POLITICAL PARTY 
 
REF: A) PORT AU PRINCE 1593 B) PORT AU PRINCE 808 
 
PORT AU PR 00001678  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary: Lespwa's efforts to transform itself into a 
viable political party have yet to show tangible results. 
Lespwa remains a coalition of two regional political parties 
and two rural organizations.  The leadership,s outreach to 
its constituent organizations to merge them into a unified 
political party has yet to bear fruit.  The group has yet to 
identify candidates for Senate elections.  Lespwa,s 
dependence on President Preval as a leadership figure -- 
after the President, at least publicly, has removed himself 
from partisan politics -- has had negligible effect. End 
Summary. 
 
¶3. (SBU) PolCouns and PolOff met with Lespwa Stering 
Committee member Anes Lubin on September 2.  Lubin reported 
that an ad hoc committee has ben formed to discuss merging 
the two parties andtwo regional organizations that currently 
cooperte under the Lespwa banner into a single political 
party.  That committee is currently drafting propsed party 
by-laws and a political platform.  Lubn claimed President 
Preval continues to support espwa, and that Lespwa fully 
supports the Presidnt's proposed plans to delay senatorial 
electionsand reform the constitution (ref A).  The Lespwa 
leadership believes that the President was correct to cut his 
ties with Lespwa and govern the country above partisan 
politics.  Lubin said the future of Lespwa depends on 
collective leadership rather than the charismatic leadership 
of an individual.  Despite previous claims to Poloff by 
Lespwa steering committee member (and Minister of 
Parliamentary Relations) Joseph Jasmin that there is internal 
resistance to making Lespwa a political party (ref B), Lubin 
claimed that the relationship among Lespwa's four coalition 
organizations is solid and that there is no resistance to 
merging them into a political party. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Lubin declared that Lespwa is eager to participate 
in the 2007 Senate elections and confident it will win the 
majority of seats.  However, it has yet to decide on 
candidates to run and will not field a candidate for the West 
Department.  (Note:  Lespwa Deputy Patrick Domond from Jacmel 
told Poloff Lespwa may support some Fanmi Lavalas candidates 
in upcoming elections.  We speculate that the West Department 
may be one such case.  End note.)  Lubin warned, however, 
that Lespwa is cautious about the prospective elections due 
to the unresolved status of the Provisional Electoral Council 
(CEP) (ref A).  Lubin said Lespwa believes the mandate of 
this CEP does not extend to running the next set of Senate 
elections.  He said that a new CEP must be formed that 
reflects the relative strength of political parties in recent 
elections and that gives Lespwa strong representation. 
 
¶5. (SBU) PolCouns noted that many political parties seemed to 
exercise little discipline over their representatives in the 
Senate and Chamber of Deputies.  Lubin strongly disputed this 
was the case with Lespwa, asserting that Lespwa senators and 
deputies act in full coordination with the party leadership. 
(Note: Of the ten Lespwa senators, only four act as a bloc. 
In the Chamber, Deputies form ad hoc coalitions for each 
vote, rarely along party lines.  End note.)  Lubin quickly 
shifted the conversation to the strong support he claims 
Lespwa enjoys in Haiti.  He pointed with pride to Lespwa's 
strong results in the legislative, municipal and local 
elections.  He also claimed that Lespwa currently enjoys 
substantial support from the "masses" and grassroots 
organizations. (Note: There is some press-radio commentary 
claiming that the Lespwa banner is no longer the powerful 
mobilizer it once was, and that it may be losing ground in 
some areas to Lavalas.  End Note.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: Despite strong representation in the Senate 
and the Chamber of Deputies, Lespwa continues to suffer from 
the lack of strong leadership, a role once filled by 
presidential candidate Preval. Lespwa nonetheless continues 
to try to shore up its support by clinging to the 
 
PORT AU PR 00001678  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Presidential bandwagon and supporting the President's 
dilatory approach to elections and the CEP.  Progress toward 
drafting organizational statutes and a political platform -- 
indispensable elements for constructing a political party -- 
continues to be slow.  Without a strong push from the current 
leadership on internal organization and programmatic 
definition, Lespwa will continue to drift. 
SANDERSON