US embassy cable - 05DJIBOUTI716

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 000716 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF, AF/E, DRL; 
LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, PHUM, PREL, DJ 
SUBJECT: DECENTRALIZATION FORUM FOLLOW-UP: UPR'S VIEW 
 
REF: DJIBOUTI 650 
 
Classified By: Pol/Econ Erinn C. Stott for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: In one of several conversations (septels to 
follow) with the participants of the recent forum held to 
discuss decentralization and the special status for Djibouti 
City, Embassy spoke with the president of the newest 
political party in Djibouti, Union for Reform Partisans 
(UPR), Ibrahim Chehem Daoud. While the forum was attended by 
only the parties in the government coalition, and one 
non-aligned, independent party - UPR, there was a significant 
and varied debate on several of the articles in the proposed 
law. Daoud was appreciative of being offered the chance to 
weigh-in on this law and felt this effort by the government 
to include the population through political parties was a 
step in the right direction. End Summary. 
 
2. (C) The July 2-14 Decentralization Forum held in Djibouti 
was a success, according to one of Djibouti's newest 
political parties. The forum was organized by the Minister of 
Interior, who personally invited all political parties to 
discuss the proposed draft of the Special Statute for 
Djibouti City. The President of the non-aligned political 
party Union for Reform Partisans (UPR), Ibrahim Chehem Daoud 
told Embassy the forum made great progress on the proposed 
law, and that nearly 50 percent of the draft was changed in 
some manner. 
 
3. (C) Chehem said there were five main points contested and 
amended. The first point was the manner in which the Mayor of 
Djibouti City would be chosen. According to the original 
draft, the Mayor would be appointed by the President of the 
Republic. Government aligned parties and non-government 
aligned parties alike opposed this. Chehem stated the parties 
agreed it should be amended to have the Mayor of Djibouti 
City chosen by election. 
 
4. (C) The second contested point was the process of 
selection of the Mayor of Djibouti. According to Chehem, the 
final settlement was that selection of the Mayor would be by 
indirect voting. In the new draft, the citizens of Djibouti 
City will elect members to the Community Councils. Community 
Councils will in turn elect the City Council, who will be the 
elected officials to elect the Mayor of Djibouti City. 
 
5. (C) The third point was naming of Community Councils. 
Participants opposed the naming of Community Councils and 
argued that councils should reflect the cultural diversity of 
the areas they represent. Their preference was to use names 
that are Somali or Afar, depending on the ethnicity of the 
district. 
 
6. (C) The fourth point contested was candidate eligibility. 
For community elections, the government's draft proposed that 
candidates should only come from registered political 
parties. Parties participating in the forum held the position 
that independent candidates should have the right to run in 
elections. According to Chehem, this was included in the many 
amendments made by the forum. 
 
7. (C) The final point contested was on control of central 
administration. Control was originally designed to only be "a 
priori." Participants in the forum amended this to be "a 
posteriori" as well. 
 
8. (C) Other amendments included reducing the deposit for 
community electoral candidates from 350,000 DF ($1,977) to 
250,000 DF ($1412) to make it easier for poorer political 
parties to put forward candidates for office. Chehem 
commented that the Government's attitude towards the 
participants' requests was good. He added that it was obvious 
that the current draft was coming directly from the 
President. Chehem said whenever the participants of the forum 
suggested a change, the Minister first consulted the 
President before agreeing. He also said forum discussions 
indicated that the type of proportionality used for the 
winner in regional elections (majority winner gets half the 
seats; other half gets assigned by proportional 
representation according to votes) be a test for the 
legislative elections in 2008. 
 
9. (C) Chehem also said the political parties in Djibouti are 
in need of training. He said if democracy in Djibouti is to 
be anything aside from a concept for the rich, all parties 
must be supported equally by the government. He added that 
technical assistance is needed, saying he would like to have 
seminars and tools for his party to learn to operate 
professionally. 
 
10. (C) Comment: Chehem's UPR is the newest kid on the 
political block. Created in May this year, Chehem has chosen 
not to align his party with either the opposition or with the 
government, even though its stance leans towards the 
government. UPR's main constituencies are Obock, Tadjourah 
and Djibouti City. From Chehem's commentary on the forum, it 
appears the government is sincere in its desire to include 
all political views in the creation of these important laws. 
While the opposition has not yet made concrete statements on 
the law, the parties that did participate in the forum seem 
to have come away satisfied by the experience. Post will 
continue to report on the results of the forum as it meets 
with more of the participants. End Comment. 
RAGSDALE