Paul I Jukic  03/20/2008 03:13:43 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Search Results

Cable 
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UNCLAS        NASSAU 00146

SIPDIS
CXNASSAU:
    ACTION: AMB
    INFO:   POL DCM

DISSEMINATION: AMB /1
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: DCM:HARDTDB
DRAFTED: POL:PIJUKIC
CLEARED: POL:DBOCONNOR

VZCZCBHI776
RR RUEHC RUCNCOM
DE RUEHBH #0146/01 0462137
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 152137Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY NASSAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5221
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NASSAU 000146 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV BF
SUBJECT: ELECTION COURT CONFIRMS GOVERNMENT WIN AFTER 
RECOUNT 
 
REF: NASSAU 56 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (U) The first of three legal challenges to results of the 
May 2007 elections was decided January 21 with a recount 
confirming the victory of the governing FNM party's 
candidate.  The decision leaves the Ingraham government with 
an unassailable majority and scuppers any hopes the 
opposition PLP may have harbored of reversing the 
parliamentary balance in election court.  The court accepted 
evidence that 110 people had voted illegally and ordered a 
"scrutiny" of remaining valid ballots to determine the 
result.  Rather than providing the opposition with a 
post-election victory, the outcome of the court case has 
instead focused attention on the impact of the previous 
government's last-minute changes to constituency boundaries 
on the eve of elections.  Top government officials blamed the 
late changes for confusion in the voter registration process 
and accused the previous government of incompetence and 
ill-intentions. 
 
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GOVERNMENT WINS COURT CASE 
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¶2.  (U) The first of three legal challenges to results of the 
May 2007 parliamentary races was decided January 21 after a 
new recount confirmed the victory of the governing Free 
National Movement's (FNM) candidate Byran Woodside, now 
Minister of State for Youth and Sports.  The recount 
confirmed the original result in the Pinewood constituency in 
Nassau, albeit by a smaller margin of 49 votes (down from 64 
according to the original tally).  During the court case, 
both sides had contested a total of nearly 200 votes -- a 
relatively large number in the small election districts in 
The Bahamas.  The election court accepted evidence that 110 
people had voted illegally because they did not properly 
satisfy residency requirements.  They then threw out these 
votes and ordered a "scrutiny" of ballots which ended with 
confirmation of Woodside's win. 
 
¶3.  (U) The decision leaves the government with an 
unassailable majority and dashes any hopes the opposition 
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) still had of reversing the 
FNM's parliamentary majority in court, especially after the 
shock resignation of an opposition MP on January 9 (see 
reftel).  The parliamentary balance remains 23-17 in favor of 
the FNM, with a single independent.  Furthermore, the court 
result casts into doubt not only the political utility but 
the wisdom of pursuing the remaining two cases pending before 
election courts.  Victories in the remaining two cases would 
still leave the FNM ahead 21-19-1, and likely cast further 
negative light on the previous government's poor performance 
in organizing the election. 
 
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ANOTHER BLOW TO OPPOSITION 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Rather than providing the opposition with a 
post-election victory, the Pinewood constituency election 
court decision has instead focused renewed public attention 
on the then-governing PLP's wide-ranging, last-minute 
constituency boundary changes (read: gerrymandering).  The 
changes are seen by some, certainly in the current 
government, to have introduced confusion and contributed to 
the voter registration problems identified in the election 
court proceedings.  In their written ruling, justices stated 
that the parliamentary commissioner failed to ensure the 
integrity of the registration process and concluded:  "This 
case exposed the most egregious failures in the parliamentary 
system." 
 
¶5.  (U) Elated FNM supporters held a victory rally on January 
24, providing the Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham, a soapbox 
to attack his predecessor and leader of the opposition, Perry 
Christie, for another instance of apparent government 
bungling.  The Prime Minister blamed official "ineptitude, 
incompetence and late boundary changes" for disenfranchising 
Bahamians in the May 2007 election and contributing to the 
post-election controversies.  He also strongly insinuated 
that the move was calculated to improve the incumbent party's 
chances at the polls, a move which clearly boomeranged to 
hurt the PLP. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶6.  (SBU)  The FNM now has nothing left to feel anxious about 
in the election court challenges, which become technical 
disputes without ramifications beyond the constituencies and 
candidates concerned, leaving the government to concentrate 
on tackling key domestic and bilateral issues.  The PLP, on 
the other hand, has another -- and again largely 
self-inflicted -- wound to nurse ahead of its planned 
February convention.  Notably, opposition leader Christie 
admitted privately to DCM that the court challenges and 
registration problems were a blemish on his administration, 
and a source of some embarrassment as any alleged 
irregularities occurred on the PLP watch.  His attitude does 
nothing to dispel the impression that pre-election 
maneuverings, apparently designed to magnify the advantages 
of incumbency, have indeed backfired badly on the PLP. 
SIEGEL