VZCZCXRO2269
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1682/01 2901749
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171749Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7064
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1669
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1483
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0914
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1328

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001682 
 
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: MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES DIVIDED ON ELECTIONS, 
CONSTITUTION 
 
REF: A. PORT AU PRINCE 1649 
 
     ¶B. PORT AU PRINCE 1593 
 
PORT AU PR 00001682  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U)  This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Summary: Opposition to President Preval's plan to 
reconstitute the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) is 
emerging.  Political parties and civil society groups are 
also commenting on the President's proposals to delay 
elections and amend the Constitution.  In the face of this 
opposition, Preval denied there has been a decision to 
disband the CEP, and promised he will continue broad 
consultations with political parties and other sectors. Among 
the major political parties, Fusion and OPL are resisting the 
President's proposals -- although they say they will go along 
reluctantly with reforming the CEP --while Lespwa, Alyans and 
Union generally support Preval. Secondary political parties, 
civil society, religious groups and the private sector are 
beginning to voice public criticism of the Presidential 
consultations on the CEP.  There is still no official GoH 
word on reconstituting the CEP or on Senate elections.  End 
summary. 
 
Tempered Opposition from Fusion, OPL 
------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Fusion spokesperson Micha Gaillard told Poloff on 
October 10 that Fusion supports retaining the current CEP, 
but does not want its opposition to the President to cause 
further delays of senatorial elections. Fusion believes that 
if Preval decides to form a new CEP, its mandate should 
include indirect elections in addition to the senatorial 
elections. Fusion staunchly supports holding indirect 
elections so the decentralization process can be completed, a 
step Gaillard said Preval sees as pointless since he plans to 
change that part of the Constitution anyway. Fusion agrees 
that although the Constitution is a source of many problems 
for Haiti, it should be amended only according to the 
constitutional procedure outlined in Title XIII of the 1987 
Constitution. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  OPL (Struggling Peoples' Party) Secretary General 
Edgard Leblanc Fils told Poloffs October 10 that the October 
9 meeting with Preval was inconclusive, and that Minister of 
Parliamentary Affairs Joseph Jasmin's October 10 public 
statement claiming a decision had been reached to dissolve 
the CEP (ref A) was inaccurate. (Note: Prime Minister 
Jacques-Edouard Alexis stated on October 12, ''No official 
decision has been made on the issue.'' The Secretary General 
of the Presidency also on October 12 announced that 
consultations were ongoing. End note.) OPL's position is that 
elections are the most important goal; the particular lineup 
of CEP counselors is secondary. They are concerned that at 
this point Senate elections will not take place on time, and 
that the GoH does not want to proceed with indirect 
elections. OPL wants any new CEP mandate to include both 
senatorial and indirect elections. Leblanc echoed a suspicion 
voiced by many CEP members (septel) that the delay in the 
Senate elections is part of an Executive scheme to declare 
the Senate dysfunctional when the new senators do not take 
their seats on the second Monday in January. However, he also 
said Preval assured the party leaders that Haiti would have 
elections for one-third of the Senate but that would be the 
last election until the Constitution is changed. Leblanc 
speculated that Senate elections would not be held until at 
least March 2008, after the February Carnival celebrations 
had passed. He adamantly insisted the GoH cannot justifiably 
amend the Constitution outside of the modalities provided 
therein. OPL disputes the oft-repeated claim that this 
amendment process is too long. Leblanc concluded by saying 
that Haiti needs a national debate over what amendments to 
the Constitution are needed. 
 
Lespwa, Alyans and Union Support Preval 
------------------- 
 
¶5. (U)  Lespwa continues to support preval's public position 
 
PORT AU PR 00001682  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
on elections and the Constitution, hewing to the line taken 
by Lespwa Steering Committee chair Anes Lubin in a September 
26 conversation with Poloffs: the CEP lacks a mandate for 
senatorial elections, and certain counselors are corrupt. 
Senate elections are important, but Haiti needs a new CEP to 
ensure legitimacy. In addition, Lespwa thinks the 1987 
Constitution is problematic and the President is completely 
justified in his desire to change it (ref B). 
 
¶6. (SBU)  ''Union'' Party chairman Jean Chavannes Jeune told 
Poloff on October 9 that Union supports President Preval's 
position on elections and the Constitution. Jeune called the 
CEP ''corrupt and incompetent'' and argued that the current 
counselors are not fit to manage the next senatorial 
elections. Jeune did say that Union supports elections 
sometime in 2008, under a new provisional CEP. Jeune 
predicted that the new senators would take office in March or 
April 2008. Jeune also stated that the 1987 Constitution 
poses major problems and needs to be amended through the 
procedure provided in the Constitution itself, or replaced 
via a ''constituent assembly.'' He saw no problem with 
changing the Constitution through extra-constitutional means, 
i.e., through a constituent assembly. However, Jeune told the 
Embassy October 10 that the meeting with the President had 
agreed only that the CEP must be restructured (ref A). 
 
¶7. (U)  Alyans Secretary General Evans Paul announced October 
10 that the President and the participating political parties 
did indeed reach consensus on October 9 around forming a new 
CEP. However, he said they had not yet agreed on a method for 
formulating the new council, or on what the mandate of that 
council should be. According to Paul, the President told 
party leaders he intended to consult with other sectors 
before making a final decision. Preval expressed his desire 
to be in a position to announce the news to the population by 
October 17. Paul said, ''There is very little chance that 
this CEP will stay in place,'' but he did not think the 
President had yet made that decision. Alyans' goal, according 
to Paul, is to achieve elections as mandated by the 
Constitution. Because the current CEP is controversial, the 
best solution is to form a new CEP through a consensus 
process that "puts everyone at ease around a new provisional 
electoral council." 
 
Secondary Parties, Civil Society, Private Sector Voice 
Opposition 
------------------- 
 
¶8. (U)  Many smaller political parties and civil society 
groups have publicly criticized the proceedings.  Himmler 
Rebu, leader of GREH (Grand Union for the Development of 
Haiti), estimates that the major political parties' 
acquiescence to preval's plan to dissolve the CEP amounts to 
''an act of cowardice and treachery.'' ADEBAH (Democratic 
Alliance to Build Haiti) leader Rene Julien commented that 
although he favors disbanding the current CEP, he fears the 
GoH will not follow through on its assurances to form a new 
CEP to manage Senate elections. Jean Andre Victor of the 
Haitian Liberal Party stated, ''We recommend the government 
allow independent institutions like the CEP to function.'' 
President of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce Jean Robert 
Argant said he believes the current CEP is capable of 
organizing the next elections. Civil Society Initiative 
Executive Director (and former Group of 184 member) Rosny 
Desroches called the ''decision'' to dismiss the CEP a 
violation of the Constitution, and urged the international 
community to ''fix'' the problem.  Additionally, the 
Protestant Federation, the Conference of Catholic Bishops and 
the Episcopal Church have all spoken out in favor of keeping 
the current CEP. (Note: Each of these groups has a 
representative in the current CEP. End note.) 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Opposition is emerging to GoH plans to reconstitute 
the CEP, delay elections and ultimately change the 
Constitution. Preval's hesitancy on the CEP issue shows he is 
 
PORT AU PR 00001682  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
sensitive to domestic criticism of his elections plans, 
including criticism from social groups outside the narrow 
political party leadership. Nevertheless, strong support for 
Preval from Lespwa, Alyans and Union; the readiness of OPL 
and Fusion to go along with the President in the interest of 
getting to the Senate elections; combined with a Haitian 
tradition of strong presidential power, may well tip the 
balance in favor of the President, at least on the CEP issue. 
Reforming the Constitution will be more difficult for Preval 
to manage. 
SANDERSON