VZCZCXRO8057
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0675/01 3171347
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131347Z NOV 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5523
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0276

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 000675 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SOCI IV
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS OFFICIALLY POSTPONED, NO NEW DATE SET 
 
REF: A. ABIDJAN 666 
     ¶B. ABIDJAN 664 
 
¶1.  (U)  SUMMARY: On November 11, the Independent Electoral 
Commission (CEI) announced that presidential elections will 
not take place on November 29.  The provisional voters' list 
has been printed, however, and the United Nations Operation 
in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) has begun distributing it. 
According to the Prime Minister's office, the provisional 
lists could be posted in all of the 11,000 polling stations 
by Monday, November 16.  END SUMMARY 
 
 
ELECTIONS POSTPONED 
------------------- 
¶2.  (U)  At a press conference on November 11, CEI President 
Robert Mambe announced that presidential elections set for 
November 29 will be postponed.  Respecting the November 29 
date "would be ideal," he stated, "but.. if we want to do our 
work well, so that all Ivoirians obtain their documents, we 
are required to postpone the November 29 date."  Mambe did 
not offer a new date for elections. 
 
 
THE PROVISIONAL ELECTORAL LIST IS READY! 
---------------------------------------- 
¶3.  (SBU) SAGEM completed printing of the provisional voters' 
list on November 10, and the following day, UNOCI began 
distributing the list to the 415 local CEI commissions around 
the country.  The provisional list that will be posted at 
each commission is composed of three separate lists: 
 
- The first list includes approximately 5.3 million 
petitioners who were found on the 2000 electoral list and 
through additional database searches.  There are no further 
nationality questions for these petitioners: they are 
considered Ivoirian and will be eligible to vote. 
 
- The second list, which will be posted separately from the 
first, includes approximately 1,033,000 people who were not 
found in any of the historical databases.  The people on this 
list must come to their local CEI commission with all of the 
documents initially required to register.  If the local 
commission determines that they are Ivoirian, their names 
will be added to the first list. 
 
- The third list, also posted separately, contains the names 
of approximately 43,000 people who participated in the 
identification and enrollment process, but who were 
determined to be of non-Ivoirian origin and therefore 
rejected.  (Note: CNSI Commissioner Cisse Malick told Poloff 
that the majority of these people are in possession of a 
foreign resident card, which is why they have been excluded 
from the list.)  This list will also note the reason for 
disqualification in case petitioners would like to contest 
their non-eligibility. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  UN vehicles transporting lists departed for regions 
near Abidjan on November 11; early the following morning, 
lists were loaded onto UN flights bound for several cities 
across the country.  Once the lists arrive at the 415 local 
commissions, however, it is the responsibility of local CEI 
commissioners to make sure the list is posted in all of the 
polling stations in their districts.  To facilitate this, the 
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) disbursed 582 
million CFA (approx $1.3 million) to the CEI on November 11 
to cover all costs involved with transporting and posting the 
lists in the 11,000 polling stations. 
 
¶5. (U)  The CEI announced that the provisional list will also 
be publicly available on its website on November 12. 
According to Koffi Koffi Paul from the Prime Minister's 
office, the paper lists are expected to be physically posted 
by Monday, November 16. 
 
 
NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET 
------------------------ 
¶6.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  If the CEI commissioners succeed in 
posting the provisional electoral list, it will be a major 
step forward in resolving the country's seven year political 
crisis.  Significant hurdles remain, however.  The 30 day 
dispute period, where anyone can challenge names on the 
provisional list, will begin the day the lists are posted. 
Political parties have been preparing for months to challenge 
the lists, and it is unclear how many of the 1,033,000 cases 
will need to be examined by judges.  If there are a 
significant number of challenges, this could slow down the 
process even further.  However, CEI Commissioner Yacouba 
Bamba told Poloff that he believes the process will run much 
more smoothly than the ID/voter registration process. Because 
 
ABIDJAN 00000675  002 OF 002 
 
 
the CEI no longer needs the consensus of the technical 
operators to carry out this phase of the process, Bamba said 
the CEI can proceed much more quickly than it has in the 
past.  The lack of ONI, INS, and SAGEM agents involved in 
this phase also significantly cuts down the possibility of 
agent strikes further delaying the election process. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Although elections have been postponed yet again, 
significant progress has been made - not only on the lists, 
but on election security issues as well.  It appears that 
funds have finally been allocated to refurbish the cantonment 
sites for the Forces Nouvelles (FN), which should allow the 
disarmament process to move forward.  This week, 900 FN 
soldiers were cantoned in Bouake. END COMMENT 
NESBITT