VZCZCXRO7761
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0226/01 0450700
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140700Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9963
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS, AF SE WILLIAMSON 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO KDEM SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: SPLM AND NCP STUCK ON DRAFT ELECTORAL BILL 
 
REF: (A) KHARTOUM 180 
(B) KHARTOUM 154 
(C)KHARTOUM 025 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The NCP continues to suggest that the SPLM is not 
keen on holding national elections due to the SPLM's potential loss 
of power in the GoSS.  The SPLM says it supports a 50 (direct)/50 
(proportional) electoral system in order to allow leaders from 
smaller communities a chance to govern.  The NCP gives little hope 
that a compromise will be reached on the draft electoral bill, while 
the SPLM says a compromise is possible. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) Poloff met with President of the Sudan Worker's Trade Union 
Federation (SWTUF) and prominent NCP member Ibrahim Ghandour on 6 
February.  Ghandour, who is the chief negotiator for the NCP in its 
meetings with the SPLM on the electoral law, said that the NCP will 
not support any compromise on the proposed percentages of the mixed 
electoral system.  Either the draft law will go forward with the 
60(direct)/40(proportional) make-up that the NCP supports or it will 
go forward with the 50(direct)/50(proportional) split that the SPLM 
and other opposition parties support.  "There will be no meeting in 
between or further revising of figures," said Ghandour.  On 11 
February, poloff met with Atim Garang, Deputy Speaker of the GNU 
National Assembly and an SPLM founder.  Garang believes that a 
compromise on the electoral law can be reached between the peace 
partners before the bill is sent to the National Assembly for 
ratification. 
 
¶3. (U) Ghandour reflected back to February 2007, when the National 
Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC) called for all parties to 
submit input on a draft electoral bill.  He said that, at the time, 
the NCP supported 60(direct)/40(proportional) system, the Communist 
Party supported a 50(direct)/50(proportional) system, the Umma Party 
supported a 70 (direct)/30(proportional) system, the Democratic 
Unionist Party (DUP) and the National Democratic Alliance Party 
(NDA) called for a 100 percent proportional voting system, and the 
SPLM supported a 100 percent direct voting system.  According to 
Ghandour, all parties agreed that at least 25 percent of the 
national, GoSS, and state legislatures should be women. 
 
¶4. (U) In May of 2007, Ghandour said that all parties agreed to a 
60(direct)/40(proportional) system.  All opposition parties, except 
for the SPLM, unified and came up with a new proposal for a 50/50 
system in September 2007.  In October, when the SPLM pulled out of 
the GNU, they joined with the opposition parties in supporting a 
50/50 system.  Since reaching a deadlock, Ghandour said that the NCP 
and the SPLM have had four meetings to work out percentage 
distributions for the mixed system.  He claimed that the NCP did not 
want "new figures" (i.e. - the SPLM at one point offered to support 
a 55/45 compromise, but the NCP did not agree to this).  Ghandour 
claimed that the NCP is "keen to go to elections" but that "the 
opposition is not prepared and does not want elections.mQJ