US embassy cable - 05PORTAUPRINCE1070

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 001070 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
NSC FOR SHANNON 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, EAID, PGOV, HA, Elections 
SUBJECT: HAITI ELECTIONS:  CANADIAN ELECTIONS EXPERT 
REVIEWS BUDGET INCREASE REQUEST 
 
REF: PORT-AU-PRINCE 1005 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
1. (SBU) Ron Gould, retired deputy of Elections-Canada and 
currently an elections consultant for the Canadian 
government, visited Port-au-Prince April 9-16, to review the 
recently increased elections budget (reftel).  The government 
of Canada (GOC) has already made available USD 14 million to 
the Haiti elections effort.  Before committing any further 
assistance, the GOC wanted Gould's evaluation of the 
electoral process and the new USD 60.7 million budget.  He 
shared his initial reactions and apprehension that the 
current budget must be rationalized against electoral 
priorities with emboffs April 15. 
 
2.  (SBU) Gould provided emboffs with a preliminary readout 
of his impressions and highlighted his major concerns.  He 
characterized the elections process as fragmented, on the 
part of both the national and international efforts.  The CEP 
organization was inherently weak without any internal 
capacity.  The fragmentation within the CEP was made worse by 
the "Commission" structure where each CEP member either 
heads, or is a member of, the various electoral commissions. 
Gould reserved particular concern for the disconnects he 
noted between the UN and OAS election assistance teams.  He 
lamented the lack of electoral expertise on the part of the 
MINUSTAH Electoral Support Unit, particularly in the 
leadership position. 
 
3.  (SBU) Gould said that for the elections to be successful, 
the registration process must be successful.  He expressed 
concern with the timeline for the elections saying that the 
dates for an election should be driven by the accomplishment 
of the voter registration process and not, as the case in 
Haiti, with the elections dates announced and the 
registration process forced within those time constraints. 
Gould suggested that if it became absolutely necessary, he 
thought the October municipal elections could be pushed back 
to coincide with the November legislative and presidential 
elections.  He said that ensuring that the computerized, 
high-tech registration system envisioned works is a critical 
priority. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Comment:  Gould has it right with regard to the 
difficulties caused by the feeble CEP structure that are 
exacerbated by the failure of the CEP members to consistently 
work together towards one goal without individual agendas 
interfering in the electoral process.  However, his concern 
over the lack of expertise on the part of the UN elections 
unit is disquieting.  Gould and the Canadian Embassy have 
promised to share his formal report and analysis with the 
international donors, including an initial "executive 
summary" that should be prepared within the next week.  A 
push from another donor to further rationalize the elections 
budget will be useful but ultimately, we may have to make any 
further USG elections funding decisions based on the 
information available now.  End Comment. 
FOLEY