VZCZCXRO8611
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #1662/01 1760910
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250910Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9711
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001662 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV AF
 
SUBJECT:  HERAT CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES: KARZAI DOMINATING THE FIELD 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.  Election campaigning is underway in Herat with 
general resignation, not excitement, among the populace that 
President Karzai will win.  Karzai's campaign spending and outreach 
to key local figures and organizations have strengthened his 
position, but some analysts believe he can still be beaten on 
election day.  Provincial Council campaign activities are muted to 
date with fewer posters on the streets than the previous election, 
due largely to the late provision of official symbols by the 
International Election Commission (IEC) in Kabul.  The local Herat 
Provincial Election Office (PEO) is working smoothly and is hiring 
and training provincial election support staff.  The new Elections 
Complaint Commission (ECC) office is up and running, but is poorly 
placed to carry out its duties and has a long way to go to educate 
the general public on its role and to be accessible and responsive 
to those wishing to document complaints.  End Summary. 
 
Karzai Solidifying Position in Herat 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) To date, nine candidates have opened campaign offices in 
Herat: President Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah, General Shanawaz Tanai, 
Mirwais Yaseeni, Ashraf Ghani, Dr. Habib Mangal, Abdul Latif Pedram, 
Sayed Karim Jalal, and Muhtasem Bela Mazhabi.  While some political 
commentators in Herat believe the outcome is uncertain, most experts 
believe President Karzai is firmly in command and will win the 
province by a substantial margin.  President Karzai has a 
well-established political operation in Herat city as well as the 
districts.  His campaign headquarters in Herat city is hosting lunch 
for about 80 to 100 people a day, and similar operations are being 
established at the district level.  Other leading candidates are 
serving juice and tea, but are not spending the same resources on 
outreach thus far. 
 
¶3.  (U) Karzai has developed the firm support of the leading power 
brokers in Herat.  The Provincial Council (PC) chair, Homayoun 
Azizi, is leading Karzai's campaign activities and not running for 
reelection, which has prompted local criticism and a call for him to 
step down given the conflict of interest.  The Hazara political 
party of Mohaqqeq is supporting Karzai, as are the Afghan Mellat and 
Junbesh parties. Additionally, a number of civil society 
organizations, including the Ulema Council, the Youth Association, 
and most district elders, are publicly supporting Karzai. 
 
¶4. (U) Governor Nuristani, while a Karzai supporter, is visibly 
absent from the political debate and surprisingly uninformed about 
the election activities in Herat.  Speculation is rife that Karzai 
has promised former governor and strongman Ismael Khan either the 
governorship of Herat or a new super or regional governorship of the 
western provinces for his support; but seasoned analysts believe 
that other Karzai backers would strenuously object to a return of 
Ishmael Khan to the governorship and that Khan himself is a 
different man than in 2004 and is seeking instead a key ministry 
position. 
 
¶5.  (U) Among the general public, resignation for a second Karzai 
term is settling in but there is little excitement for his 
candidacy.  As a result, locals say campaign activities are more 
subdued than 2004.  The average Herati believes that Karzai's 
confidence, hefty campaign spending, and recent visit to Washington 
are all indications that "the U.S. wants him" for a second term. 
 
Provincial Council Campaign Off to Slow Start 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) In general, local governance in Herat is working well and 
there are no remarkable issues in the campaign beyond the usual 
security and economic concerns.  While the campaigns have begun, the 
numbers of candidates actively campaigning in the province is fairly 
low compared to 2005.  For PC candidates, this is largely explained 
by the delayed provision of official candidate symbols (a 
recognition tool for illiterate voters), which the Herat IEC office 
still had not received as of June 23.  The PEO expects to receive 
the information via compact disc imminently and told PRTOff that he 
would copy and distribute one to each of the candidates as soon as 
he could.  After the symbols are distributed, we expect to see 
posters and campaign propaganda popping up throughout Herat for PC 
candidates. 
 
IEC Hiring and Training its Staff 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Hera's Independent Election Commission (IEC) and its 
Principal Election Officer (PEO) Zia are professional, competent, 
and independent.  The IEC has been actively developing its election 
plans, moving ballots, hiring personnel, providing civic education, 
and interacting with candidates.  The office was abuzz with activity 
when PRTOff visited June 23 as a four-day training course kicked off 
for the recently hired 180 District Field Coordinators (DFCs).  The 
 
KABUL 00001662  002 OF 002 
 
 
DFCs were selected from 650 applicants and include 35 women.  Once 
the training is completed they will head to their assigned districts 
to visit polling centers and identify needs.  DFCs will work in 
pairs responsible for monitoring and supervising activities at five 
polling sites each, and for recruiting five people from each area to 
work for them.  The DFCs will complement the civic education teams, 
which are already in the field and generally working well, according 
to Zia.  Zia noted that there had been some instances of 
intimidation of civic education teams, but they were able to report 
these to the Afghan National Police (ANP) for resolution and the 
teams eventually will be able to access the problematic districts. 
 
 
ECC is the Orphan Organization 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) State PRTOff visited the nine-member ECC at its headquarters 
on the UNAMA compound and found the ECC, which had been established 
at UNAMA only a few days earlier, to be poorly situated.  The small 
office assigned to the ECC was unfurnished, thus inaccessible for 
meetings or discussion.  The UNAMA compound is located outside the 
city near the airport and has strict entry and exit security 
requirements.  This hampers its ability to present itself as an 
accessible organization to Afghan citizens wishing to file 
complaints.  Additionally, the Regional Elections Coordinator told 
PRTOff that many of the individuals hired to staff the ECC had 
earlier been turned down for positions in the Herat IEC.  However, 
it is still too early to assess the quality of the individuals and 
their work. 
 
¶9.  (U) In the meeting with PRTOff, the business-like ECC 
Commissioner for Public Outreach, Dr. Abdulraziq Safi, outlined the 
steps he is taking to carry out the duties defined in the elections 
law despite the challenges posed by office space and the failure to 
yet receive funding for communications and transportation.  He said 
few complaints had yet been filed, but that many political parties 
and the people were not well informed about the election campaign 
rules or the ECC's existence.  He indicated that he will meet with 
the Line Ministry for Culture and Information to discuss a media 
public information campaign and will also place complaints boxes in 
prominent places.  Additionally, he was reaching out to women's 
groups to address their unique complaints.  Safi said ECC's would 
require evidence to back up complaints and that the lawyers and 
investigators on his staff would follow up on 
appropriately-documented complaints.  The ECC has many possible 
responses to complaints, ranging from initial advice and warnings, 
and moving up to fines and referrals for legal action. 
 
EIKENBERRY