US embassy cable - 05NDJAMENA1649

UNCLAS  NDJAMENA 001649 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICAWATCHERS, DEPT FOR AF/C, DRL, INR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, CD, Government and Biographic Reports 
SUBJECT: CHAD: REQUEST FOR UN ELECTORAL ASSISTANCE 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  The final version of a UN report on 
Chad's electoral needs released to donors November 4 
concluded that the national institutions responsible for 
managing elections lacked independence, that the most recent 
electoral census was not credible and that the recent 
amendments to the constitution represented a backwards step 
in Chad's democratic evolution.  Looking ahead to future 
elections (local, legislative and presidential) scheduled 
between now and the spring of 2006, the UN report concluded 
that it was imperative to revise the electoral code and to 
review the voter registration rolls. The UNDP Resident 
Representative (ResRep) informed donors that absent concrete, 
verifiable steps taken by the government to reach a consensus 
with opposition parties and civil society on steps needed to 
create a credible electoral process, the UN would not seek to 
mobilize international support for future elections.  Donors 
based in Chad were skeptical that the Government of Chad was 
interested in engaging in such a dialogue.  End summary. 
 
2. (SBU) UNDP ResRep Kingsley Amaning invited major donors 
(U.S., Germany, France and EC) to a meeting November 4 to 
discuss the GOC request for assistance with elections in 
2005-2006. Amaning provided to donors a copy of the findings 
of an April 2005 visit by a UN Department of Political 
Affairs (DPA) team.  The DPA report, prompted by the GOC 
request for assistance with the June 2006 referendum, drew 
the following conclusions: the national institutions 
responsible for managing elections lacked independence, the 
most recent electoral census was not credible and the 
proposed changes to the constitution represented a backwards 
step in Chad's democratic evolution.  Even had the assistance 
for the referendum been requested sufficiently in advance, 
the UN would have declined to support the process. 
 
3.  (SBU) Looking ahead to future elections (local, 
legislative and presidential) scheduled between now and the 
spring of 2006, the UN report stated that it was imperative 
to revise the electoral code and to review the voter 
registration rolls.  A new electoral census might be 
necessary given that the most recent census appeared to 
overstate the number of eligible voters by about one million. 
 The report also stressed the need for this to take place in 
the context of a dialogue between the Government, political 
parties and civil society; failure to do so ran the risk of 
having opposition parties boycott future elections. 
 
4.  (SBU) Amaning reported to donors that UNDP recognized 
that the UN has an important responsibility to help move the 
country towards democracy.  At the same time, the country was 
a long way from fulfilling the conditions necessary for free 
and fair elections.  Amaning stressed that UNDP needed 
confirmation that the government and other political actors 
were willing to take the steps necessary toward that common 
goal.  If progress was demonstrated, the UN would seek to 
mobilize the international community and provide financing 
for elections. 
 
5.  (SBU) In the meantime, Amaning stated that UNDP intended 
to proceed with the visit of a technical group to study the 
electoral rolls and provide recommendations on specific 
action necessary to restore credibility to the rolls.  He 
intended to strongly encourage the government to open a 
dialogue with all political parties and civil society in 
order to achieve common ground on certain key issues, 
specifically:  restoring credibility to the voter rolls and 
revising the electoral code to ensure independence of the 
national institutions charged with election oversight. 
Amaning stated that if the government and partners could 
reach a consensus on these steps, the UN stood ready to 
assist in supporting them.  Absent progress, they would not. 
 
6. (SBU) Donors present supported the UNDP approach, 
expressing at the same time doubt as to the possibility of a 
"dialogue" reaching a consensus and whether the government 
was genuinely interested in such a dialogue.  EC Rep Phillipe 
Thomas noted that the EC was bound by the Cotonou agreement 
which stipulated a dialogue and respect for human rights as 
pre-conditions to providing assistance. He also opined that 
there was not enough time to take the steps necessary for 
credible elections in the timetable envisaged by the 
government. 
 
7.  (SBU) EmbOff noted that support for elections was one of 
the few "carrots" available to the international community, 
and that donors needed to be judicious in extending this 
assistance.  She recalled that the government already claimed 
to have started a dialogue with the opposition parties, and 
that, if this was a pre-condition, the UN needed to be clear 
about what expectations were for the dialogue.  Amaning 
clarified that the UN did not envisage a "national forum" as 
requested by the coalition of opposition parties (French 
acronym CPDC), but they did need to see concrete evidence of 
consensus on the steps necessary to make the electoral 
process acceptable to all parties.  Amaning agreed that the 
current "dialogue" could not be accurately described as such; 
rather it might be considered a "pre-dialogue." 
 
Comment: 
 
8. (SBU) Amaning had provided Ambassador earlier an unedited 
version of the UN report which stated bluntly that any UN 
support for elections in Chad needed to be carefully 
coordinated with the international community in order to 
avoid having the UN be seen as an "accomplice of the 
government." The unedited report also strongly condemned the 
move to revise the constitution and described the government 
as widely seen as a "vampire" living off of oil resources and 
leaving the international community to attend to Chad's basic 
needs.  The final report uses more judicious language but 
pulls no punches in coming out against election support under 
current circumstances.  We, and other donors here, are of the 
same view. 
 
9. Minimized Considered 
 
WALL 
 
 
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