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DE RUEHNJ #0241/01 1690623
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 180623Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7009
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000241 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/C AND S/USSES 
NSC FOR GAVIN 
LONDON FOR POL -- LORD 
PARIS FOR POL -- KANEDA 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR AU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV CD
SUBJECT: ELECTORAL REFORM COMMITTEE BLESSES DECREE ON 
ELECTORAL CODE ENFORCEMENT 
 
REF: A. N'DJAMENA 152 
     ¶B. NDJAMENA 139 
     ¶C. NDJAMENA 192 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Not for Internet 
dissemination. 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Chad's Electoral Reform Committee 
(Comite de Suivie) met June 17 to respond formally to a 
Governmental Decree (Decret 621), signed June 6 by President 
Deby, on the role of the Independent National Electoral 
Commission (CENI) in enforcing Chad's Electoral Code.  Decree 
621 seems to have been issued as a result of advice from 
jurists representing the Organisation de la francophonie, who 
visited Chad in April to suggests ways of overcoming 
disagreement between various organs of the Government of Chad 
and the National Assembly on means of conducting elections, 
planned for 2010-2011 (Ref A). 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  At the June 17 meeting, members of the Electoral 
Reform Committee praised Decree 621, making clear that they 
viewed it as an effective method of unblocking a political 
process that has often reached impasse as the Chadian body 
politic grapples with preparing for the nation's first 
potentially free and fair election (Ref B).  At the same 
time, international observers of the June 17 meeting of the 
Committee pointed out that two accompanying draft legislative 
bills (projets de loi) prepared by the ruling party, one on 
the role of the opposition and the other on the functioning 
of political parties, would offer all concerned a chance to 
stall the electoral process further, if that appeared 
desirable, as the National Assembly is currently out of 
session.  (Note:  Our contacts at the National Assembly 
report that the body will likely sit in extraordinary session 
on/about June 25 to consider Chad's revised national budget. 
The session has been given a mandate to address other 
"reform" agenda items, so an opportunity to take action on 
the draft bills does exist.  End note.)  Government members 
of the Electoral Reform Committee called for establishment of 
a date certain for elections, while opposition members of the 
Committee agreed that establishment of a date would be a good 
idea -- at some point in the future, by means yet to be 
determined.  End Summary. 
 
---------- 
DECREE 621 
---------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  President Deby's latest Decree has received 
positive attention in the local media, from members of the 
Electoral Reform Committee and from representatives of 
political parties, since it was promulgated June 6.  The 
document (e-mailed to AF/C) specifies respective duties of 
the CENI, Electoral Reform Committee, Bureau of Elections and 
other state organs, confusion among which was one of the 
matters that jurists from the Organisation de la francophonie 
who visited here in the spring sought to address.  Voting 
mechanisms for nomads, another topic on which the jurists 
pronounced, are defined:  nomads are to vote where they are 
counted in the national census currently under way (see 
below).  Responsibility for proposing increases in the number 
of seats in the National Assembly is given to the CENI. 
Opposition figures on the Electoral Reform Commission made 
clear in the course of the June 17 meeting that they viewed 
the Decree as a step forward that could prove that the August 
13, 2007 Agreement on governance in Chad was still 
functioning, and that might pave the way for free and fair 
elections. 
 
---------------- 
TWO CLEVER BILLS 
---------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Also discussed at the June 17 meeting was a draft 
bill on the "Legal Status of the Political Opposition in 
Chad," and a second draft bill on "Entitlements of Political 
Parties."  Although both bills (e-mailed to AF/C) appear to 
embrace and codify democratic principles, the fact that they 
have been prepared by the governing party during a recess in 
the National Assembly's schedule suggests that they might be 
designed to slow progress toward elections, particularly if 
 
NDJAMENA 00000241  002 OF 002 
 
 
it should be decided that their passage is necessary prior to 
elections, and if they spark any sort of debate. 
 
--------------------- 
NO DATE FOR ELECTIONS 
--------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Members of the Deby Administration who attended 
the June 17 meeting congratulated their President for having 
taken steps to hasten peaceful transfer of power, and called 
on opposition members of the Electoral Reform Committee to 
come to consensus with them on dates for various electoral 
contests.  Opposition members of the Committee expressed 
support for the notion of settling on dates, but seemed 
pointedly unprepared to undertake that task at the present 
meeting or in the near term. 
 
---------- 
NEXT STEPS 
--------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Although it appears to us and t other regular 
international observers of the Eletoral Reform Committee 
that dates for Chadian elctions could indeedbe fixed at any 
time, we beleve that the Committee wants to involve the 
Natinal Assembly more formally in decisionmaking.  Thu the 
next milestone, if there is one, wil likely occur in the 
course of the June 25 extraordinary legislative session. 
 
------ 
CENSUS 
------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Meanwhile, Chad's national census -- the precursor 
to elections, and paid for largely by the U.S. -- continues 
(Ref C).  Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is being 
conducted in an effective manner.  Whole sectors of N'Djamena 
have been visited by census-takers, and the Embassy's PAO and 
local employees have observed census agents on the job in the 
countryside.  Regional and local officials seem to be taking 
an active interest in the count and promoting participation 
in it.  Some critics have charged that census-takers lack 
experience and that the GoC has not been generous with 
transportation provisions, but our assessment is that Chad is 
doing relatively well with this basic governmental process, 
and that it has made headway before the summer rains make 
many roads impassable. 
 
--------------- 
RELATED MATTERS 
--------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  In the wake of the announcement of draft bills on 
the opposition and political parties, we have received 
notification that some smaller political parties have decided 
to regroup as a single unit.  In a nation where more than 80 
political parties are registered, where opposition sometimes 
becomes a lifestyle, and where coalition-building is a 
relatively new concept, we regard this as a positive 
development. 
BREMNER