VZCZCXRO1857
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHMV #0970 3331711
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281711Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0567
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS MONROVIA 000970 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSIONS PREP FOR 2011 RACE 
WITH ELECTIONS COMMISSION 
 
REF: MONROVIA 826 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: The Ambassador met with the National Elections 
Commission (NEC) November 28 to discuss preparations for the 
2011 presidential election.  NEC shares our view that a free, 
fair, and on-time election is a crucial milestone in 
Liberia's democratic transition, but remains concerned any 
further delay by the Legislature will make it difficult to 
complete everything in time.  NEC expressed its gratitute for 
ongoing USG assistance, and was pleased to hear from USAID 
that its new building should be ready in a year.  END SUMMARY. 
 
PREPARATION FOR 2011 
 
¶2. NEC Chairman James Fromayan expressed his frustration that 
the Legislature did not pass the threshold population bill 
(reftel) before it recessed for break and complained that 
Members from rural counties were doing whatever they could to 
stall it.  He said he wished House Speaker Alex Tyler (from 
rural Bomi County) had shown more leadership in fulfilling 
the Legislature's mandate to set the threshold rather than 
selfishly worrying about his own seat.  Co-Chairman Elizabeth 
Nelson worried that the Legislature would settle the issue by 
apportioning seats to particular counties, side-stepping 
NEC's constitutional mandate to delineate districts based 
upon the most recent census. 
 
¶3. On voter registration, Nelson stressed that it was 
important that NEC allow six months to a year to do the 
process well.  With many refugees who have returned home and 
many youth who have turned 18 since the last registration in 
2005, any election held using the 2005 register would not 
reflect the will of today's Liberian people.  After the 
meeting, the Commissioners took the Ambassador to see their 
voter registration software system. 
 
¶4. Fromayan said that in order to hold a Constitutional 
referendum on the election of local officals, the Legislature 
would first need to pass the Boundary Harmonization Exercise 
bill that is before it.  That bill establishes criteria for 
what constitutes a "city" and officially names only Monrovia 
and the 15 county seats as cities.  NEC could not possibly 
organize elections for the hundreds of "cities" (some with 
population of less than 100) that are currently on the books, 
but it would be able to manage elections for those 16 cities. 
 Fromayan again accused the Legislature of dragging their 
feet on this bill. 
 
¶5. Fromayan said he expected fewer presidential candidates in 
2011 (vice the 22 who ran in 2005) because smaller parties 
would form coalitions.  Fromayan also said that NEC expected 
to win its court case soon to close ten "briefcase" parties 
that do not have the required Monrovia-based headquarters to 
be considered legally legitimate.  He said that NEC had to be 
flexible on party regulations in 2005 because the country was 
just emerging from war, but said that NEC would be much 
stricter about enforcing the rules for the next race.  He 
said having fewer candidates would help Liberian parties to 
move past being personality-based to being more 
policy-platform orientated. 
 
USG ASSISTANCE 
 
¶6. All of the NEC Commissioners were pleased to hear that 
USAID would finish the bidding process on NEC's new building 
in January and should complete the structure within a year. 
Fromayan was grateful for USG-funded International Foundation 
for Electoral Systems' support to NEC and its promotion of 
civic education throughout Liberia.  Fromayan, who just 
returned from an IV program to observe our presidential 
election, was impressed by American voters' enthusiasm and by 
the "maturity" of U.S. democracy, including how Senator 
McCain gracefully conceeded defeat. 
 
¶7. COMMENT: The presence of the entire commission at the 
meeting (except for one commissioner who was unable to 
attend) demonstrated the NEC's appreciation for U.S. 
assistance.  NEC shares our view that a free, fair, and 
on-time 2011 election is a crucial milestone in Liberia's 
democratic transition, but is clearly worried about delays in 
the Legislature passing the requisite legislation.  We will 
continue to raise the issue with Executive and Legislative 
leaders and stress that Liberia's second successful 
presidential election will be a signal to the world that 
democracy has finally grown strong roots here.  END COMMENT. 
THOMAS-GREENFIELD