VOTE BUYING IN HAHA AND OTHER

C O N F I D E N T I A L CASABLANCA 000181

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG, INR/NESA/NAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/11/2017
TAGS: MO PGOV PINR PREL KDEM
SUBJECT: VOTE BUYING IN HAHA AND OTHER
CAMPAIGN STORIES

REF: A) Rabat 1274
B) Rabat 1248

Classified By: Acting Principal Officer
Charles Cole for Reasons 1.4 (b),(d).


1. (C) Summary: During a recent visit to
three coastal cities and numerous villages
south of Casablanca, Poloff and PD FSN
discovered a general lack of interest for
the upcoming parliamentary elections,
despite the fact that campaign season was
in full swing. The dearth of enthusiasm
was blamed on the votersQlack of confidence
in the candidates and parliament as a whole
and a generalfeeling of helplessness.
Corruption, all conceded, is still an issue
and expected at some level throughout the
country but nearly everyone we spoke to
was convinced that this year the elections
will be less corrupt than any in recent memory.


2. (C) Most Moroccans said observes were
welcome in their region but questioned
the actual benefit of having them present.
We felt a little apprehension about the
observers from a few campaigners who were
uncertain about their actual role.
Concerns also surrounded campaigning and
election rules since very few candidates
seemed to have a full grasp of what the
law allows and what it does not. End Summary.

--------------
Summer in the Cities
--------------


3. (C) While visiting the coastal tourist
city of Essaouira, we had the opportunity
to follow one candidate, Asma Chaabi, while
she visited a local slum to speak with
residents. First time Parliamentary candidate
Chaabi, is currently the cityQs Mayor
and a member of the Party of Progress and
Socialism (PPS). We sat with Chaabi in a
room full of women in a very poor neighborhood
while she fielded questions about jobs
and medical care until a young local man battled
his way in and began a verbal attack.
He asked Chaabi where she had been since she
became mayor and what she was going to do
for him if she was elected to Parliament.
Chaabi responded with a basic civics lesson
on MoroccoQs government system and how it
served the people. She explained to us later
that unlike other candidates she will not lie
and make unrealistic promises in order to
be elected and believes this strategy will win
over the voters.


4. (C) The question as to a candidateQs
whereabouts since the last election was one
we heard many times during our three day trip.
Evidently, many citizens feel abandoned by their
representatives after the elections. As for Chaabi,
while there were other candidates running in the
region most people were certain that she and her
father, also running in Essaouira, would win.
Some we talked to, however, though that while
the region needed. A factor, according to a
local journalist, that may lead to a surprise
showing by the Party of the Unified Socialist Left.


5. (C) In the cities of Safi and El Jadida we were
surprised to see the lack campaigning nearly halfway
through the two week campaign season. The absence of
activity in El Jadida was explained away by a journalist
as fear. He said he had heard rumors that the candidates
and party officials thought their phones were tapped and
that their activities were being monitored.
Although they denied any wrongdoing, they were overly cautious
about taking any chances.


-------------- --------------
Corruption rumored in Haha but Under Pressure Everywhere
-------------- --------------


6. (C) The consensus during our trip was that while
corruption and vote buying would always exist, it is far
less prevalent this year than in the past. According
to several NGO leaders in the Berber region of Haha,
however, rumors of corruption are widespread. We heard
that one candidate is reportedly getting unconventional
support from his father, the president of the local
commune. Our contact claimed that the father is not
charging the local residents for municipal water delivery
in exchange for support for his son. The contact was sure
this was risky business since the GOM has switched from
Qnegative neutrality to positive neutrality.Q When asked
what he meant by this he said, in the past the GOM stood by
while candidates illegally misused government resources to
further their campaigns. Now, he said, the authorities are
there watching, reporting and stopping corrupt practices.


7. (C) Still, not one person we spoke to believed that there
was any way to stop vote buying. Even the pasha of Safi, in
charge of election oversight, seemed convince that there was
no practicable way to end the practice of vote buying. A local
activist in Safi insinuated that while the GOM may be looking
more closely into misappropriation of government resources they
might turn a semi-blind eye on vote buying. He hinted that if
the government cracked down on the practice the percentage of
citizens voting would be embarrassingly low.

--------------
Anger in the Souk
--------------


8. (C) We found many Moroccans demonstrated apathy and total
disinterest in the elections while others were livid at the GOM
and elected officials. At a large weekly market approximately
65 kilometers outside of Safi, some let their anger be heard.
We overhear one young man shouting at a campaigner saying,
QI paid 3000 dirhams in taxes last year and got nothing. We have
no water, no road, nothing. Bring the King here and I will tell
him that myself.Q Many other we talked to were disgusted or had
lost hope in the government and refused to participate in the
elections feeling it was a useless exercise.

--------------
What Exactly are the Rules of the Game
--------------


9. (C) A prevailing problem throughout the region was the
lack of clarity regarding campaign regulations. In the Haha
region, we were met with complaints about one candidate using
Qillegal transportationQ to get his campaigners to weekly markets
and rallies. The illegal transport, some claimed, took work away
from local taxis and the 300 dirhams that the non-professional
drivers were paid for the service were considered by some to be a
form of bribery. As if to demonstratetheir point one of the
locals complaining about the practice told us that a young men
campaigning for a local candidate fell out of an Qillegal
transportQ truck and died a few days before we arrived in the city.


10. (C) Paid supporters caused conflict in the region as well.
There seemed to be no clear indication as to where to draw the
line between who could be and could not be paid in the campaign.
Hired guns, young men paid march for a candidate and distribute
party information, were plentiful, a less then surprising situation in
region were an unemployment rate of over 50 percent is not unusual at
certain times of the year. A number of campaigners we spoke to who
were handing out brochures and sporting party tee shirts or baseball
QIsnQt that the party program I just gave youQ said one of the few wome
we saw out in the villages campaigning when asked for the document.
When we replied it was not, she apologized and said she didnQt know
because she was illiterate and was just paid to pass out the flyers.

--------------
Observers, Why Not
--------------


11. (C) There was no objection to the presence of international or
domestic observes during the elections and most thought it was an excel

idea. We spoke to one NGO leader who showed us a list of violations he
had observed in his region in the week since campaigning began. He was
eager to meet with international observes to share his notes and
Qassist the democratic process.Q Another activist requested a contact
number for NDI in order to talk about the observers and see what he cou
do to get one in his community.

--------------
The PJD is Pretty Low Key
--------------


12. (C) It was not until the second day of our trip that we saw eviden
of a PJD campaign at all. In the Essaouira region we were told by a lo
journalist that there was one PJD candidate and that he was not expecte
well. The candidate, he said, had been a classmate and Qwas never real
back then.Q In the coastal city of Safi we met with two candidates at
headquarters and witnessed a small rally in a middle-class neighborhood
The party was well organized and emphasized their desire to see a clean
corruption free election. While Istiqlal is expected to retain its hol
many people we spoke to in town though the PJD could have a strong show
In El Jadida, a PJD presence was only evident outside the Mosques
after Friday prayers passing out pamphlets.

--------------
The Word on Women and Youth
--------------


13. (C) Getting women and youth out to vote has been a focus of the G
of many NGOs throughout Morocco. During our three day trip, however, w
convinced that little progress has been made in that area. The only yo
we encountered who were excited about voting were those working for a c
and many of them appeared to be more excited about having a job than co
that their candidate was going to make any real changes. NGO leaders d
us that women in the area were changing and becoming more aware of thei
However, in the small weekly markets we visited in poor Berber and Arab
we saw very few women present to hear the campaign speeches. We were al
that the illiteracy rate for the local women was extremely high prevent
from reading about the party platforms. Consequently, it appears that,
the local village elders told us, women will vote but only as directed
their husbands or family members.

--------------
Comment
--------------


14. (C) There is clearly a great deal of apathy in the regions we visi
regarding the September 7 elections. We saw very little evidence of ca
just one week before the elections and almost no enthusiasm by the citi
From what we were told, an big upset in any district would be highly un
despite the dissatisfaction we heard from some about their current situ
As a butcher at a local market day put it, QThose people in parliament
rich they could tile this whole market and I donQt even
have shoes for my donkey. But what can we do?Q

COLE