VZCZCXRO7952
PP RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0112/01 0261149
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 261149Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1181
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0411
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 2578

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000112 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TI
SUBJECT: TAJIK ELECTIONS: CCER PROMISES FULL ACCESS FOR MONITORS, 
IRPT COMPLAINS OF REGISTRATION DELAYS 
 
REF: 09 DUSHANBE 1458 
 
DUSHANBE 00000112  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Central Commission for Elections and 
Referenda (CCER) Chief Mirzoali Boltuev promised to enforce 
President Rahmon's call for free and fair elections in a January 
25 meeting with Ambassador Gross.  Boltuev said foreign and 
local election observers would have full access to monitor the 
voting process and vote counting.  The CCER agreed to accredit 
U.S. Embassy American and locally engaged staff as election 
monitors.  Boltuev said the CCER would direct precinct election 
committees to post copies of initial vote totals for public 
viewing.  Despite these positive commitments, the Islamic 
Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) has reported that its 
candidates have faced registration delays.  END SUMMARY 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Mirzoali Boltuev, Chief of the CCER since 1996, pledged 
that February 28 parliamentary elections would be free and fair, 
citing President Rahmon's promise to ensure "transparent" 
elections and the presence of international monitors.  The CCER 
would accredit 185 short and long-term observers from the Office 
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), 120 from 
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and 40 from the 
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), who would detect any 
cases of fraud.  CCER Chief Boltuev promised to officially 
accredit observers from a Tajik NGO, the National Association of 
Political Scientists of Tajikistan, which plans to deploy over 
700 local monitors through a European Union grant. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) The CCER also will accredit international observers 
from foreign diplomatic missions in Tajikistan.  Boltuev noted 
"We have accreditation cards and briefing materials ready in 
English, Tajik, and Russian."  The CCER agreed to accredit both 
American and locally engaged Embassy staff as observers.  The 
Embassy will deploy monitors in and around Dushanbe, coordinate 
with ODIHR and other missions, and report on monitors' 
observations.  Boltuev asked that observers report violations 
immediately to the CCER.  "We read in the 2005 ODIHR report that 
there were instances of family voting.  Where were they?  If we 
don't know the name of the district and election officials, we 
can't do anything." 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Boltuev said that election officials must permit 
monitors to observe the full voting process, including vote 
counting, and said that the widely held belief that monitors 
must be eight meters from the counting table was incorrect.  To 
improve transparency from 2005, the CCER Chief said he directed 
precinct election committees to post a copy of initial election 
results for public review.  The results should remain posted for 
three days so that they can be cross-checked with the official 
totals later reported by the district and central election 
committees. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Boltuev said the CCER would organize public election 
events in local constituencies and give political party 
representatives equal opportunity to participate.  Political 
parties were free to organize their own campaign events 
independently of the CCER.  "There should be no restriction." 
The CCER is not opposed to televised debates, but Boltuev added 
"We already give parties 30 minutes and candidates 15 minutes on 
television for free, but they don't want to use it."  Boltuev 
said the CCER would treat the Social Democrats, the only party 
without a representative on the CCER, the same as every other 
party.  "It is not an alien party.  After all, Social-Democratic 
ideology is actually a Leninist idea, so I don't know why people 
are afraid."  He added that the Social Democrats had 
representatives in many district election committees. 
 
 
 
IRPT COMPLAINS OF DELAYS IN CANDIDATE REGISTRATION 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) has 
complained that 20 candidates to the Sughd provincial 
legislature have faced registration delays and party members 
have not been included in some precinct election committees. 
Party leader Kabiri said "local officials have created 
artificial barriers" against party members.  A locally engaged 
Embassy employee, Muhibulloh Qurbon, submitted application 
materials to run as an IRPT candidate for the Majlisi 
Namoyandagon in the Isfara district on January 11.  Local 
officials told him he would not be officially registered until 
 
DUSHANBE 00000112  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
February 5.  Candidates can only begin their campaign after 
official registration is completed.  A CCER official said they 
have not received any official complaints from opposition 
parties and that the process of candidate registration is 
ongoing.  ODIHR is aware of the problem and is following up with 
the IRPT and the CCER.  On the national level, the party is 
running 40 candidates for the Majlisi Namoyandagon (20 on its 
party list, 20 in individual mandate districts). 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT:  Boltuev has overseen a string of flawed Tajik 
elections since his appointment in 1996, so there is little 
comfort in his assurances that the 2010 polls will be free and 
fair.  Boltuev's instructions to publicly post precinct vote 
totals and the CCER's offer to accredit as observers Embassy 
local staff and Tajik NGO representatives give us and other 
observers the means to test assurances.  Elections are unlikely 
to be free and fair, and public apathy and lackadaisical 
campaigning reflect the widespread lack of faith in the 
government's commitment to democracy.  The Embassy will 
coordinate with ODIHR to monitor party complaints and CCER 
responses and will deploy a robust monitoring group of American 
and local mission personnel to observe the February 28 polls. 
END COMMENT 
GROSS