US embassy cable - 05PORTAUPRINCE713

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 000713 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
WHA ALSO FOR USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, HA, Elections 
SUBJECT: HAITI: POLITICAL PARTIES MOVE TOWARD ELECTIONS PACT 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James B. Foley, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  With the help of a Norwegian-funded think 
tank, Haitian political parties are negotiating a "code of 
conduct" for participating in elections later this year.  The 
agreement under discussion would commit signatories to 
approximately a dozen general guidelines covering campaign 
"fair play," respect for the electoral law and for decisions 
by the electoral council and judicial branch, and acceptance 
of the results of the elections.  The effort includes leaders 
of all the major parties including Fanmi Lavalas, but it is 
not a done deal yet and could still be derailed.  If 
successful, however, and particularly if FL leaders sign on, 
this political pact would be a significant boost for the 
election process and would achieve one of the initial goals 
of the yet-to-be launched National Dialogue process.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (U) The Norwegian-funded think tank ISPOS (Institute for 
Political and Social Studies) organized a well-attended 
gathering of political party leaders March 3-5 at the beach 
resort of Moulin sur Mer.  This second such "colloquium" (an 
initial one was held in June 2004) focused on the challenges 
facing parties in the upcoming election and on their role in 
the national dialogue process.  SRSG Valdes, PM Latortue, 
Minister of Justice Gousse, and CEP member Freud Jean all 
attended and made presentations.  PolCounselor and poloff 
attended, as did representatives from the French and Canadian 
embassies and the Norwegian MFA.  Discussions were spirited, 
sometimes angry, but over the course of the three days the 
colloquium produced a serious dialogue among political 
adversaries the sort of that one rarely sees in Haiti. 
 
3. (U) In the last panel of the last day, KID leader Evans 
Paul, MOCHRENA leader Luc Mesadieu, and MIDH leader Marc 
Bazin proposed different versions of an idea that most 
leaders had supported in earlier discussions: a 
concrete pact among political party leaders that would 
encompass a "code of conduct" for the election season and a 
"governability pact" to regulate the process of establishing 
a new government after the elections.  At the suggestion of 
Fondation Nouvelle Haiti Executive Director Rosny Desroches, 
seconded by popular acclamation among the participants, ISPOS 
agreed to take the different ideas and develop them into a 
draft accord that could be negotiated and finalized as a 
follow-on to the seminar. 
 
4. (C) In the ten days since, ISPOS director Garuedy Laguerre 
has done just that, and party leaders are now reviewing a 
12-point draft accord that Laguerre hopes could be finalized 
in the near future.  The accord is very general, committing 
parties, among other things, to renounce the use of violence, 
respect electoral laws, run clean campaigns, and accept the 
results of the elections, and outlining a mechanism to 
address those who violate the accord.  Laguerre told 
PolCounselor March 10 that he had vetted his initial draft 
through the group of politicians who had participated in last 
year's "Oslo meetings" (reftel) and made some changes based 
on their feedback.  He had received positive signals from 
most of the Moulin sur Mer participants and was now working 
to convince a "critical mass" of party leaders to sign on, in 
hopes of launching the agreement publicly as early as 
possible (his efforts have been complicated, regrettably, by 
a bout of food poisoning). 
 
5. (C) Not surprisingly, Lavalas is one of the most difficult 
pieces of the puzzle, according to Laguerre and Norwegian MFA 
official Kristen Langsholt (who has been the GON's point 
person for Haiti and has remained in Haiti to work on the 
initiative).  Father Gerard Jean-Juste was one of the FL 
representatives at the colloquium and made a very hard line 
presentation, arguing that FL would boycott elections unless 
Aristide were returned and several other conditions were met. 
 Other Lavalas members present took a more moderate line, 
arguing that Lavalas should participate in the elections but 
that conditions still needed to be improved.  None of them 
openly rejected the idea of the electoral pact, however, and 
Laguerre believes he can convince at least some Lavalas 
leaders to sign on.  Jean-Juste told us March 10 that he was 
reviewing the text and that "it was possible" he would sign, 
along with others, for Fanmi Lavalas. 
 
6. (C) In addition to the still-open question of Lavalas 
participation,  some of the parties who went on record last 
month calling for Latortue's resignation have so far refused 
to sign on to the political accord.  In particular, Turneb 
Delpe, whose party (PNDPH - National Democratic Progressive 
Party) insists that elections should be postponed until a 
"national sovereign conference" takes place on Haiti's 
future, did not want to endorse anything related to elections 
this year.  Others tell us that they want the electoral 
accord to go further than the current draft.  MRN leader Jean 
Henold Buteau, for example, said March 15 that the accord 
needed to encompass more detailed obligations and a more 
vigorous enforcement mechanism. 
 
Comment 
------- 
7. (C)  The most encouraging thing about the proposed accord 
is the fact that a constructive dialogue among politicians 
with sharply diverging views is taking place at all.  The 
Norwegians have been quietly but effectively pushing such 
dialogue for the past three years, bringing leaders from 
across the political spectrum to Oslo for week-long visits 
and funding training for party cadres through ISPOS.  Because 
of the respect they (and ISPOS) have garnered, they are able 
to bring together the likes of Jean-Juste and other hard-line 
FL partisans with conservatives such as MOCHRENA's Luc 
Mesadieu.  (The colloquium was even a forum for an impromptu 
hour-long meeting between PM Latortue and Father Jean-Juste, 
where according to one contact the two long-time Floridians 
shared warm stories about their adopted state and argued over 
"political prisoners.") 
 
8. (C) This process is an effort to achieve quickly what most 
actors here see as the first objective of the 
yet-to-be-launched National Dialogue process:  a political 
pact in support of elections.  (The second phase would be a 
broader, grass-roots dialogue on Haiti's future that would 
likely not start until after elections.)  This is a positive 
development and we are encouraging all sides to sign on to 
the proposed electoral pact as an important step toward a 
free and fair election.  Precisely because it would be that, 
of course, Lavalas hard-liners will have difficulty accepting 
it.  Unlike the April 4, 2004 Transition Accord that Lavalas 
refused to sign because it "legitimized" the IGOH, in this 
case Lavalas has been involved in the negotiating process 
from the beginning.  Jean-Juste himself, despite his 
rhetoric, has given indications to some of our political 
contacts that he is looking for a way to participate in the 
electoral process.  Given his close ties to Aristide, we do 
not think it likely that he will sign on to the electoral 
pact at this time, but we do not rule it out. 
FOLEY