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RR RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #1746/01 1261125
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051125Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6788
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 8527
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3206
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 7832
RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 4150
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 5411
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 9662

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 001746 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL KPAO PK
SUBJECT: DRL ASSISTANT SECRETARY KRAMER'S CALL ON MINISTER OF 
INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING 
 
1.(SBU) Summary: Minister of Information Rehman told DRL Assistant 
Secretary Kramer April 21 that Pakistan's new government seeks 
 
SIPDIS 
"coalition, not collision," and is working to keep the transition 
moving forward with minimal disruption from political squabbles. She 
acknowledged the need to address extremism as a Pakistani problem, 
and described a broad agenda of social reforms as well as the need 
to manage expectations about how quickly the new government can 
accomplish those changes. End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Minister Rehman congratulated A/S Kramer on his new post 
and said the GOP "hopes we can make headway" on issues in the DRL 
portfolio. Kramer stressed that he was in Pakistan to determine how 
the U.S. can help in these areas and to underscore the multifaceted 
nature of our relationship.  Rehman identified the foremost 
challenges as economic and political stability, as well as 
establishing the writ of law and order. The new coalition government 
is "educating" the public that the current economic and security 
problems are legacies from the previous government, and asking for 
"breathing space" to move forward with a national consensus and 
manage expectations. Those expectations, she added, include access 
to state services and resources, with more pressure on the new 
government than on its predecessors to deliver. 
 
¶3. (SBU) A/S Kramer asked Rehman whether the parliamentary election 
result had more to do with political or economic concerns. She 
judged that both mattered - economic deprivation mobilized voter 
turnout, while "engagement in the national political discourse" 
motivated voters as well. She proudly said people voted for the 
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its coalition partners as a way to 
improve the economy, protect the country from terrorists, empower 
women, and gain freedom from fear and hunger - a state of affairs 
that she described as "the old Pakistan." She stressed that the 
people of Pakistan had voted for the "progressive agenda" of the 
PPP, and expressed determination not to let opposition minority 
parties distract attention from that agenda. When the DCM asked 
about cooperation within the coalition, she commented that despite 
agreement on overarching goals, keeping a balance is a "tightrope 
act" that requires considerable time and attention. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Rehman said the November 2007 State of Emergency "tipped 
the scales" toward the opposition and "took the sheen off" President 
Musharraf's claims to political legitimacy. "The way the judges were 
sacked turned the tide in a big way," she opined. She told A/S 
Kramer the religious parties' poor electoral showing was due in part 
to less "noise" from Afghanistan and thus less radicalization, but 
also less vote-rigging than in 2002; in that election, she said, the 
MMA got 30 to 40 percent of its victories through rigging. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Rehman cited combating extremism as the late PPP leader 
Benazir Bhutto's top priority, and acknowledged the need to change 
the discourse about extremism to put the focus on Pakistan's need to 
act. "We need to own this (extremism) - it is a bigger problem for 
us than anyone else," she said, and if some areas of Pakistan 
provide sanctuary for extremists, the government will be obliged to 
deny them territory. She said the government will seek to 
"decommission" extremist elements they can reach, but recognized 
that there are certain redlines, and said they will not negotiate 
with terrorists. 
 
¶6. (SBU) A/S Kramer and the DCM noted the extensive USG support for 
the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the entire electoral 
process, and asked about future plans for the ECP. Rehman said 
creating an independent ECP - headed by a commissioner with a 
backbone and strong laws to support him or her -- is a major 
coalition goal, and that in the next two months the issue will go to 
parliamentary committees to start discussing the constitutional 
changes that would be required. She expressed admiration for India's 
election commission, which she noted had benefited greatly from 
USAID capacity-building assistance. 
 
¶7. (SBU) She affirmed that the new government is rolling back media 
restrictions imposed under the State of Emergency, and said she 
plans a stakeholders' conference in May on freedom of expression 
laws, giving media sectors a chance to air their views and 
encouraging their buy-in for reforms. She sees helping the media 
dismantle state controls as part of her job. She asked for U.S. help 
with media training, especially to develop journalists' "literacy" 
on human rights and democracy, and to refocus journalists on these 
issues at a deeper level than just covering the news of the day. She 
also asked for help in establishing an Islamabad press club, for 
 
ISLAMABAD 00001746  002 OF 002 
 
 
which the GOP will provide space. The DCM suggested a visit by 
leaders of Washington's National Press Club to provide guidance in 
setting up a counterpart here. A/S Kramer recommended reaching out 
to major international news organizations for financial support or 
facilitation. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The DCM urged Rehman to keep the new government working on 
women's rights as an early priority, and to set goals with 
benchmarks that outside observers can track. Rehman said the 
government refers extensively to the Report on Country Human Rights 
Practices, and floated the possibility of creating a Ministry of 
Human Rights separate from its current place within the Ministry of 
Law, Justice, and Human Rights. 
 
¶9. (SBU) On the ongoing issue of deposed judges, Rehman told A/S 
Kramer there may be closure within a week. She said the government 
has been weighing measures such as fixed terms of office for judges, 
higher salaries, and more respect for the profession to show that 
the state values the judiciary. She and A/S Kramer also discussed 
the need for a more consistent system of justice in the tribal 
areas, making sure that people have recourse to the Pakistan penal 
code rather than only to Sharia. She mentioned the recent stoning of 
a couple accused of adultery and said her efforts to get the media 
to focus on the incident led to terrorist threats against her. 
 
¶10. (SBU) She said parliamentary committees will be in place by the 
end of the week (noting that the previous National Assembly took two 
years to get its committee system set up) and that opposition 
members will chair some committees, although committees dealing with 
human rights and women's issues will remain under PPP control. She 
also mentioned a plan to wire the National Assembly building so 
private broadcast channels can cover events live when committee 
chairs want to open their proceedings to the media. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Comment: Rehman mentioned that officials in the new 
government are giving up their party offices, but also said she 
remains the head of policy for the PPP. A former journalist, she is 
very clearly engaged in image-building for the new government; 
earlier in the day she had arranged the Prime Minister's first major 
international media interview, with Newsweek. End comment. 
 
¶12. (U) This message has been cleared by A/S Kramer. 
 
PATTERSON