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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5310
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INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0904

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002920 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2019 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI ELECTION LAW UPDATE, NOVEMBER 1, 2009: UNAMI 
PROPOSAL GETS TRACTION 
 
REF: BAGHDAD 2913 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Gary A. Grappo for reasons 
1.4(b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY.  Influential Arab and Turkoman lawmakers in 
Baghdad and Kirkuk told U.S. and UNAMI officials on November 
1 they would support the UNAMI proposal, and Speaker 
Sammara'i agreed to call a vote on the election law the next 
day (November 2).  Yet, although the vote may be near, it is 
not certain, as the Kurdish leadership has not yet committed 
to the UNAMI proposal.  Masrour Barzani, son of KRG President 
Masoud Barzani, told the Ambassador that he was "satisfied" 
with the proposal, but stopped short of committing to support 
it.  MP Friad Rwanduzi (PUK) -- who was possibly speaking 
without instruction from Erbil -- told poloffs that the Kurds 
were against specific elements of the UNAMI proposal.  Post, 
working closely with UNAMI, will intensify its engagement 
with all sides to ensure that conditions are right for a 
successful parliamentary vote on an election law November 2. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
Sunnis Show Cautious Support 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) The Ambassador briefed Council of Representatives 
(COR) Speaker Ayad Samarra'i the morning of November 1 about 
the latest UNAMI proposal to resolve the election law impasse 
(Reftel).  The Ambassador noted that the Kirkuki Arabs had 
indicated preliminary support for the proposal but that the 
Turkoman position was not yet clear.  Samarra'i asked whether 
the Kurds supported the proposal.  The Ambassador indicated 
he had not yet spoken to them but planned to call Barzani's 
son when he returned to the office, and expected a Washington 
call later in the day to KRG President Masoud Barzani.  The 
Ambassador also told Samarra'i that SRSG Melkert had spoken 
to Mohammed Rida, the son of Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the 
evening of October 31, who had assured Melkert of Sistani's 
support for the proposal. 
 
¶3.  (C) The Speaker noted that it would strengthen the 
proposal if the committee to review the 2009 voter list could 
be formed and at least begin its work before the January 
elections.  POL M/C explained that the proposal could allow 
for this since the text of the proposal did not state when 
precisely the committee would be created.  Samarra'i observed 
that proposals similar to this one had been on the table for 
a month and rejected by the Sunni Arabs and Turkomans, but 
with the pressure building in past few days, they had begun 
to feel isolated and concerned they could end up with a 
solution forced on them.  The Speaker also acknowledged that 
the latest proposal gave them "more cash in hand" with the 
two compensatory seats. 
 
¶4.  (C) Sunni MPs Osama Tikriti and Salim Jabouri (both Iraqi 
Islamic Party) told the DCM November 1 that they thought 
Kirkuk MP Omar al-Jabouri would be supportive of the October 
31 UNAMI proposal.  They also indicated their support for the 
plan to the DCM.  (Comment: Neither Tikriti, Secretary 
General of the IIP, nor Jabouri, COR Legal Committee Deputy 
Chairman, are from Kirkuk, but both have been influential COR 
voices on this issue.  End Comment.)  Later, Sunni MP Saleh 
al-Mutlaq (Iraqi Front for National Dialogue) expressed 
general support for the UNAMI plan to the DCM, though he 
voiced concerns that the use of the 2009 voter registry could 
set a precedent for future electoral events in Kirkuk despite 
specific disclaimers to the contrary in the proposal.  UNAMI 
D/SRSG Andrew Gilmour asked Sunni Arab MP Mohammed Tamim from 
Kirkuk to privately engage Turkoman MPs to solicit their 
QKirkuk to privately engage Turkoman MPs to solicit their 
support.  In a meeting with the Ambassador's Senior Advisor 
for Northern Iraq (ASANI) on November 1, three Sunni Arab 
members of the Kirkuk Provincial Council accepted that using 
the 2004 voter registration list was untenable, agreed to the 
concept of a compensatory seat for Sunni Arabs in Kirkuk, 
expressed strong appreciation for direct USG involvement to 
break the election law impasse and called for a public 
statement of support by the U.S. for open lists. 
 
Turkomans Seem Close to Accepting 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) POL M/C briefed Deputy Speaker Khalid Attiya on the 
substance of the October 31 proposal.  Attiya stated that the 
plan sounded reasonable and expressed hope that the Kirkuk 
Arabs and Turkomans would accept this deal, as they had 
originally requested two compensatory seats each; he implied 
that the Turkoman side would need a nudge from Ankara to 
agree.  POL M/C said that UNAMI believes that Arab Kirkukis 
are prepared to accept the proposal, but noted that the UN 
and United States were not yet sure of the Turkoman reaction. 
 
BAGHDAD 00002920  002 OF 003 
 
 
 When POL M/C asked if the COR might vote on an election law 
by November 2, Attiya said it would be possible if all of the 
relevant players were consulted in advance.  (NOTE:  The 
Ambassador spoke with Turkish Ambassador Murat Ozcelik 
October 31 and pressed him to get the Turkoman leaders on 
board with this proposal.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶6.  (C) A group of seven Turkoman political leaders in Kirkuk 
told the ASANI November 1 that they were very pleased that 
the United States was now involved in the process.  Notably, 
none of the Turkomans questioned the need to use the 2009 
voter registration list, despite the fact that last week all 
had said it was unacceptable.  The group included Ali Mahdi 
Sadiq, a member of the Iraqi Turkoman Front who is 
characteristically combative on this issue and a close 
political ally of hardline Sunni Arabs in Hawija. 
Sadiq subsequently called Sunni Arab MP Omar al-Jabouri at 
the COR to brief him on the UNAMI proposal; al-Jabouri told 
him he could accept "all he heard."  Through Sadiq, 
al-Jabouri asked for a written copy of the proposal. 
 
¶7.  (C) In coordination with the Embassy, UNAMI D/SRSG Andrew 
Gilmour met November 1 with Turkoman COR members Saad Eddin 
Muhammad Ergec (Iraqi Turkoman Front), Muhammad al-Bayyati 
(Badr - Shi,a Turkoman) and Fawzi Akram (Sadr Trend - Shi,a 
Turkoman).  Noting that the Kurds had already rejected a 
number of proposals, the trio declined to give "a final 
answer" to the UNAMI proposal until the UN and the United 
States had secured a favorable response from the Kurds.  That 
said, they characterized the UNAMI proposal as "feasible" and 
said if the UN and the United States could secure Kurdish 
support for it, they could deliver the Turkomans and Arabs. 
Kirkuki Arab MP Omar Jabouri echoed the same sentiment in a 
chance encounter at the COR with the Ambassador and POL M/C, 
urging the United States to secure Kurdish support for the 
proposal. 
 
Kurdish Position in Question 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Masrour Barzani, son of KRG President Masoud Barzani, 
told the Ambassador in a November 1 telcon that he was 
"satisfied" with the UNAMI proposal, but stopped short of 
committing support.  However, influential MP Friad Rwanduzi 
(PUK) -- who was possibly speaking without instruction from 
Erbil -- later told poloffs that the Kurds were against the 
proposal because it included specific mention of Kirkuk, 
compensatory seats for Arabs and Turkomans, and a second 
election in Kirkuk in 2011.  Rwanduzi, who has authority to 
speak for President Jalal Talabani, told poloff that he 
planned to meet with Vice President Adel al-Mahdi to seek 
clarity on his now defunct proposal for voting rules in 
Kirkuk.  Also on November 1, members of the Kirkuk 
Brotherhood List, a largely PUK-affiliated entity, advised 
the ASANI that they "strongly objected" to the UNAMI proposal 
and considered it unconstitutional.  During the meeting with 
ASANI, MP Saadi Barzinji, the KDP bloc leader, called one 
member to castigate the proposal.  (Note: Barzinji's critical 
call likely indicated a lack of Kurdish coordination on the 
UNAMI proposal.  End Note.) 
 
¶9.  (C) The Ambassador relayed to ISCI Chairman Ammar 
al-Hakim on November 1 that the new UNAMI election law 
proposal takes into account multiple views and has won the 
approval of the Arabs and Turkomans from Kirkuk; he predicted 
the Kurds would eventually agree.  Hakim cautioned that "his 
sources" say the Kurds still have reservations about the new 
proposal.  The Ambassador replied the United States would 
Qproposal.  The Ambassador replied the United States would 
discuss the draft law with Masoud Barzani this evening. 
Later the same day, VP Abd al-Mahdi told the Ambassador that 
he favors the new UNAMI proposal and recommended that the 
United States also engage KRG PM Barham Salih to shore up 
Kurdish support.  Poloffs have learned that Kurdish MPs 
invited to an investment conference in Germany opted not to 
attend and thus are available to travel to Baghdad for a vote 
on an election law in the COR on November 2. 
 
¶10.  (C) In a separate meeting with the Ambassador, ISCI/BADR 
MP Humam al-Hammoudi expressed support for the UNAMI proposal 
to the Ambassador but emphasized that it would be important 
that the voter registration review committee for Kirkuk, as 
called for in the proposal, not blame the Kurds for fraud or 
other problems with the list.  Hammoudi also made clear that 
ISCI would want to see Kurdish support for the proposal as it 
would not want to place itself in opposition to the Kurds. 
Da'wa party leader Ali al-Adeeb was also supportive but noted 
that pockets of Kurdish resistance to the proposal were still 
picking holes in it by suggesting a compensatory seat for the 
Kurds also, a proposal that the Ambassador rejected as 
unworkable. 
 
BAGHDAD 00002920  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶11. (C) On the ground in Kirkuk, a group of 15 members of the 
Kirkuk Brotherhood List, including Kirkuk Provincial Council 
Speaker Rizgar Ali (Kurd, PUK), were unanimous and emphatic 
in opposing the UNAMI proposal during their meeting with the 
ASANI.  They argued the proposal would violate the 
constitution by allocating seats on a non-electoral basis, 
award Arabs and Turkomans a "gift" they had not earned at the 
ballot box and constitute de facto "special status" for 
Kirkuk, an unacceptable redline for the Kurds.  In a separate 
meeting, members of Kirkuk's KDP chapter suggested to PRT 
officers that the entire country (not just Kirkuk) have a new 
election after one year, or that the entire election be 
delayed for one year. 
HILL