VZCZCXRO3893
OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0893/01 2160555
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 040555Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4181
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000893 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S CARSON, AF/E, DRL Spring 
NSC FOR MGAVIN 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM SOCI EAID AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: 2009 ELECTIONS BUDGET PROPOSAL RELEASED 
 
REF: A) Khartoum 814, B)KHARTOUM 785, C) KHARTOUM 714, D) KHARTOUM 
696, 
E) KHARTOUM 578, F) KHARTOUM 400, G) KHARTOUM 223 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The National Elections Commission (NEC) announced 
its 2009 budget of approximately $153 million USD on July 27, 2009, 
down from an earlier request of more than one billion USD.  The GNU 
would commit approximately $72 million to 2009 elections 
preparations and seek over $79 million from the international 
community.  Donors had earlier insisted on a comprehensive election 
budget before making additional contributions.  Due to the eight 
month delayed budget, rapid procurement of voter registration 
materials will be necessary.  The UN has also expressed concern that 
census results will be a major impediment to constituency 
delimitation.  Increased cooperation between the international 
community and the NEC is encouraging but still has a long way to go. 
End Summary 
 
--------------------------- 
NEC 2009 BUDGET ESTABLISHED 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On July 22, poloff attended the biweekly donor working 
group meeting and on July 23, the monthly meeting of the Electoral 
Assistance Group (EAG) in Khartoum.  UNMIS Chief Electoral Affairs 
Officer Ray Kennedy reported that UNMIS and UNDP organized a two-day 
workshop for the National Elections Commission (NEC) to identify 
resource requirements for the NEC through the end of calendar year 
¶2009.  The resulting budget totaled $152,796,669 but excluded costs 
for line items for which the NEC expected donor support, including 
funds needed for voter registration transportation costs.  Based on 
this partial July-December 2009 budget, the GNU announced it will 
fund $72,830,938 million for this period.  This leaves a gap of 
$79,965,731 for donors, UNMIS and UNDP to cover.  UNDP Elections 
Advisor Jorg Guzman cautioned 
 
that all the money currently in the donor basket is committed to 
fund establishment of the NEC. However, in a push to get more donor 
funding, he has cast a positive light on future additional donor 
commitments. Kennedy highlighted that after the voter registration 
timeline and a 2009 comprehensive budget is released, the NEC will 
begin focusing on its needs for 2010.  (Note: Embassy contacts have 
taken a more pessimistic view about meeting these funding goals. End 
Note.)  Donors as well as UN representatives at the meeting 
expressed concern about the delayed budgeting process. 
 
¶3. (SBU) UN officials flagged the procurement of voter registration 
materials as a problem.  With only three months left before voter 
registration is due to begin, the UNDP will not be able to procure 
materials through its channels.  Therefore, the NEC, donors, and 
UNDP will be obligated to find alternative means to get materials if 
the voter registration timeline is to hold.  UN officials noted an 
improvement in the NEC's relationship with the international 
community and UNMIS.  The USAID-funded International Foundation for 
Electoral Systems (IFES) advisor commented that the NEC is ?on the 
right track.? However, the NEC is not yet adequately utilizing 
outside advisors.  They are still not integrated into the initial 
development of election policies and procedures, and some advisors 
only recently received copies of procedures for comment.  Critical 
steps, such as constituency delimitation, are underway without 
advisor participation or consultation. 
 
------------------------------------- 
CENSUS RESULTS ACCEPTANCE PROBLEMATIC 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Kennedy highlighted the SPLM's refusal to accept the census 
as one of the primary challenges facing elections.  Acceptance of 
the census results is critical to the drawing of constituency 
boundaries, constituency delimitation, and ultimately to the 
legitimacy of the elections in the South.  Incomplete census data in 
sensitive areas such as Darfur and Southern Kordofan make the 
drawing of technically acceptable limits difficult.  NEC informed 
UNMIS that national and state constituency delimitation is finished 
in fifteen northern states and two southern states.  Kennedy told 
meeting participants that the UN is uneasy about the quality of 
delimitation and accuracy of the data used.  The issue is especially 
acute in the South where delimitation has been very slow and refusal 
to accept census results has impeded the process, Kennedy told the 
group. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Apportionment for the Southern Sudanese Legislative 
Assembly (SSLA) was passed by law.   According to the law, the SSLA 
has 170 seats, out of which 102 (60 percent) are based on 
geographical constituencies.  The Southern Sudan Election High 
 
KHARTOUM 00000893  002 OF 002 
 
 
Commission must work closely with the Sudanese Election High 
Commissions to delineate constituencies.  As the South has completed 
very little national, Southern Sudan or state level constituency 
delimitation, the process will be more complicated than in the 
North.  In reporting to UNMIS, the NEC claimed that 98 percent of 
state high commissions have been established with offices, bank 
accounts and basic staff.  UNMIS reports from the field, however, 
indicated there are still significant staffing and capacity gaps in 
some states. 
 
--------------------- 
REFERENDA PREPARATION 
--------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Kennedy appealed to donors to push the NCP and SPLM on 
referendum preparation. He emphasized that the election process must 
be done in tandem with preparation for the referenda in Southern 
Sudan and Abyei.  Referendum preparations cannot move forward 
without the National Assembly passing needed legislation and 
establishing the necessary commissions.  Kennedy urged donors to 
encourage the CPA parties to begin negotiations on the commissions' 
membership now so that the commissions can be established at the 
same time that the referendum law is enacted. 
 
¶7. (SBU) UNMIS has received continuing reports of ?political space 
issues.? Kennedy asked donors to report all instances of harassment 
or other abuse of journalists, activists and politicians.  Donors 
offered examples of cases that have been reported, such as the 
arrest of journalists reporting on elections in Southern Sudan and 
National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) harassment of 
political and voter education groups. In one instance, a NISS 
officer openly sat in on political party training. 
 
¶8. (SBU) AID-off attended an NEC Policy Committee meeting on July 
¶23.  Donors expressed concern to the NEC regarding the lack of a 
comprehensive budget.  Donors reiterated the need for an operational 
plan and consolidated budget forecast through the end of the 
electoral cycle April, 2010.  Donors also remarked that only after 
seeing a consolidated budget and the proposed financial commitment 
of the GoS could they begin to release more funds. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment: Establishment of the NEC budget through 2009, the 
result of the NEC-UNDP conference, is a positive step, and a 
necessary prerequisite to donor funding, although the pace of NEC 
preparation for the elections and lack of a comprehensive elections 
budget remain concerns.  Post also sees the UN focus on the Southern 
referendum, at the expense of the Abyei referendum, as problematic 
in light of the volatility of the Abyei region. 
 
WHITEHEAD