VZCZCXRO6157
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #1747/01 1860441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050441Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9943
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001747 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM OREP PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: CANDIDATES DISCUSS PLATFORMS AND ELECTORAL PROCESS 
WITH CODEL ELLSWORTH 
 
REF: KABUL 1738 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: On July 1, Ambassador Eikenberry hosted a 
roundtable for the members of CODEL Ellsworth with four 
presidential candidates standing in the August elections. 
The Ambassador, Ambassador Ricciardone and Rep. Ellsworth 
focused their comments on U.S. support for a secure, credible 
and inclusive election for the Afghan people.  The 
candidates, Mirwais Yaseni, Sayed Jalal, Mowlana Abdul Qadir 
Imami Ghori and Dr. Habib Mangal, each discussed their views 
on the election process and provided a brief overview of 
their platforms.  Common themes included the need for 
improved governance, anti-corruption reform, merit-based 
hiring, building of Afghan security forces and reconciliation 
with the Taliban.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  The Ambassador opened the event by encouraging open 
discourse on the issues as a key aspect of the campaign 
season.  Rep. Ellsworth noted the importance of the election 
in supporting peace and democracy, not only in Afghanistan 
but in the region and across the world.  He commended the 
dedication of the candidates and their willingness to take on 
the difficult duty of public service during difficult times. 
He turned the event over to the candidates, noting that the 
United States wanted to work with the Afghan people to build 
peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Yaseni - Reformation, Not Opposition 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  Yaseni spoke first for the candidates, reiterating his 
comments made previously to the Embassy (reftel) that the 
need for change and improved democracy compelled him to stand 
in the election.  His candidacy is based on a desire for 
reform, not opposition. He cited good governance as his 
highest priority and to that end his administration would 
operate within and not above the law, in contrast to the 
Karzai administration's actions.  He identified 
anti-corruption efforts, including counter-narcotics, as 
critical to success and stated his commitment to a 
merit-based distribution of power and meaningful presence of 
women in government.  He separated militant and non-militant 
Taliban, seeing negotiation with the former as a necessity as 
well as improving the relationship with Pakistan. 
 
¶4.  On the election process, Yaseni said that the IEC is 
doing well overall and targeting key groups such as women and 
youth.  He noted candidates have a role in ensuring the 
fairness of the election by reporting incidents or possible 
fraud to the proper authorities.  In a conversation with 
poloff prior to the roundtable, he noted that private media 
outlet TOLO was providing the best coverage, followed by 
state-run RTA, with Arianna and Shamshad actively biased 
against him and other opposition candidates.  However, he 
thought that the IEC, the international community, the media 
and the candidates all working together would bring about 
transparency. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Jalal - Economic Reform and Redefining Terrorism 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶5.  Jalal identified economic reform as a core principle in 
his strategy to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan. 
He suggested changing the definition of "terrorism" to allow 
for negotiation in support of reconciliation efforts; anyone 
who targeted civilians would retain the label.  Jalal also 
highlighted the need to build democratic institutions, a free 
and independent press, improve womens' rights and human 
rights records and reiterated the need for economic reform. 
 
¶6.  Jalal asserted that the IEC regulation preventing the use 
of public property for campaign events - eliminating venues 
such as schools, mosques, universities, etc - effectively 
prevented candidates from holding large scale events due to 
prohibitive costs involved in renting a private space.  He 
noted that television and radio airtime was also expensive, 
working to silence the voices of the opposition.  He stated 
that the IEC's policy of allowing candidate agents in polling 
stations as observers was unhelpful, as few candidates would 
be able to recruit sufficient supporters to act as agents. 
Jalal thought that private media outlets, such as TOLO and 
Arianna, were providing impartial campaign coverage, but that 
RTA's 20-minute spots for candidates were insufficient. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Mangal - Poverty Reduction and Good Governance 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
¶7.  Mangal thanked the United States for its support of 
 
KABUL 00001747  002 OF 002 
 
 
Afghan democracy and the political process, human rights, 
development and anti-insurgent efforts.  He said that 
Afghanistan and the international community could overcome 
challenges by working together.  He identified improvement in 
governance and government, specifically improving security, 
reducing corruption and poverty and implementing social 
services as the basis of his platform, noting that in the 
seven years since the Bonn conference, the government has 
made insufficient progress in providing services, support and 
stability to the people.  Mangal emphasized the need to build 
Afghan security forces to improve their defensive capacity 
and enable international troops to withdraw.  He focused on 
the need to continue reconstruction and development and 
reduce the number of Afghans living in poverty.  He asserted 
that his administration would fight corruption by placing 
strong leaders in government office and improve rule of law 
by hiring qualified, individuals based on merit.  This would 
enable a strong government, focused on improving democracy 
and human rights. 
 
¶8.  Mangal alleged that evidence exists that some candidates 
were using government resources for campaigns, implying but 
not naming Karzai.  He said fair coverage in the media was 
not possible and personal security for candidates remained a 
concern.  He also cited the need for Afghan National Security 
Forces and ISAF to coordinate to provide security for the 
elections.  He appreciated President Obama's clear policy of 
the U.S. neither supporting nor opposing any legitimate 
candidate and expressed hope that the policy would remain in 
place. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Ghori - Explain Policy Through Islam 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  Beginning with a prolonged commentary on the current 
administration, Ghori asserted that a weak and corrupt 
government was the core of Afghanistan's problems with the 
bad attitude of government officials driving Afghans to 
terrorism.  Ghori, an Islamic religious and legal scholar, 
noted that the religious aspects of Afghan society had 
allowed bad religious leaders to lead people astray and 
Karzai's poor understanding of Islam made him unable to 
counter religious leaders. Instead, a leader should ensure 
the people understand that Afghanistan's democratic goals 
were compatible with Islam.  He believed the Afghan people 
were ready for change and a continued Karzai government would 
lead to a coup and the departure of international forces.  He 
expressed concern about the fairness of the election, citing 
public distrust of Karzai and his family and questioning 
support for a candidate that the people did not trust.  He 
said there were inconsistencies about Karzai's statements 
regarding his campaign finances and asked the U.S. and 
international community to help prevent election fraud. 
 
¶10.  To reform the government and eliminate corruption, Ghori 
would move to a merit-based hiring system and divide the 
power of the government by creating a Prime Minister.  He 
would respect the power of parliament, citing the continued 
work of Foreign Minister Spanta despite parliament's vote 
against him as evidence of Karzai's disdain for divided 
power.  He wanted to strengthen Afghan security forces, 
provide them with better weapons and put in place universal, 
male conscription at age 22.  He believed that by proving 
that the government represented Islamic values, the Taliban 
would lose power and influence.  He also expressed the desire 
to improve the country's infrastructure with factories and 
hydro-power, development of natural resources and improve 
relations with neighbors. 
 
--------------------------- 
Democracy Is Our Candidate 
--------------------------- 
 
¶11.  Ambassador Ricciardone responded to the candidates 
statements by reiterating that transparency, legitimacy and 
democracy were the only "candidates" supported by the United 
States.  Rep. Ellsworth, on behalf of the CODEL, reminded the 
group that while elected officials come and go, the integrity 
of the process would stay with the Afghan people. 
 
¶12.  CODEL Ellsworth was unable to clear this message before 
departing. 
EIKENBERRY