Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07RABAT1392
2007-09-04 16:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rabat
Cable title:  

MOROCCO ELECTIONS - FEELING ABANDONED BY RABAT,

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM MO 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRB #1392/01 2471606
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 041606Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7310
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4510
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0187
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2157
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 3546
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 0203
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 9375
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3412
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 RABAT 001392 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO ELECTIONS - FEELING ABANDONED BY RABAT,
RURAL MOROCCANS EXPRESS ANGER OR SELL THEIR VOTES

REF: A. RABAT 1274


B. RABAT 1248

C. RABAT 1155

D. RABAT 1340

E. RABAT 996

Classified By: By D/Polcouns Ian McCary. Reasons l.4 (B) and (D).


-------
SUMMARY
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 RABAT 001392

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO ELECTIONS - FEELING ABANDONED BY RABAT,
RURAL MOROCCANS EXPRESS ANGER OR SELL THEIR VOTES

REF: A. RABAT 1274


B. RABAT 1248

C. RABAT 1155

D. RABAT 1340

E. RABAT 996

Classified By: By D/Polcouns Ian McCary. Reasons l.4 (B) and (D).


--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) During an Embassy visit to Khenifra and Mrirt in
Morocco's Middle Atlas region we found a mix of apathy and
anger among interlocutors. According to one candidate, and
many residents, vote buying by parties is the norm in rural
areas and slums. Most welcomed the idea of observers, but
said the important electoral subversion occurred before
voting, not as ballots are cast. None of our interlocutors
expected government interference on election day. Stern
messages from the King and Minister of Interior have had an
effect on the bureaucracy, we heard.


2. (C) Unlike residents in other parts of the country who
seem simply worn out by political machinations (reftels),
many Khenifrans expressed anger toward the parliament, the
government, and "Morocco." Some felt insulted that the
Government of Morocco (GOM) would "dare to ask them to
participate, register and vote when people die in winter from
lack of services." Due to pre-election pay-offs, however,
they expected rural and slum turn-out to be relatively high.
End Summary.

--------------
DEMOGRAPHIC TENSIONS
--------------


3. (C) Mohammed Abdi, a freelance journalist and NGO
director, told FSN and Poloff during an August 28 and 29
pre-election sounding visit to Khenifra and Mrirt that
demographic change is a source of political tension in the
region. Over the past twenty years, large numbers of rural
residents moved out of the mountains and into Khenifra valley
to look for work. They brought their tribal kin and power
structures into the city and recreated them in segregated
slums. Most of the newcomers are illiterate and
unsophisticated and fall prey to political parties who buy
their votes with money, feasts, and promises. Residents are
willing to sell their votes because they expect nothing from

parliamentarians in the long run, and see bribes as a way to
at least get something tangible out of the political process.



4. (C) Khenifra's educated and professional residents feel
demographically outnumbered by slum dwellers, believe their
voices are diluted or canceled by the mass of purchased
votes, and stay away from the polls en masse. This leads to
a deceptively high overall participation rate by
underprivileged voters, which looks good in reports he
commented, but actually represents an absence of real
democracy.


5. (C) Urban immigration outstrips job growth and service
provision, which has led to resentment. The Party of Justice
and Development (PJD) is tapping into this vein in Khenifra
through effective grass roots organization, attentive staff
members, a targeted local platform, and an ability to deliver
mosques quickly to neighborhoods. Unlike other parties'
campaigns, they work with and through NGOs, women's groups
and community associations, which helps extend their reach.
Abdi said that although they have not been any more
successful than other parties at delivering services or jobs,
people trust them more. He added that the PJD has support
because residents are looking for an Islamic solution and the
PJD is the "least evil" of the choices. According to Abdi,
extremist groups such as Hijra wa Takfir and Jemaat al
Tabligh are active in the Khenifra region.

--------------
OBSERVERS AND THE "LOOK GOOD" ELECTIONS
--------------


RABAT 00001392 002 OF 004



6. (C) Every person we spoke with supported the idea of
international observers and wanted one in his or her polling
station, but felt the important corruption occurred well
before election day. Hassan Arbou, the Municipal Librarian,
said that Khenifra "needed observers for the three months
prior to elections. By election day, the decision is
pre-ordained." Journalist Kamal Mountassir said that
observers will prove their worth if the GOM integrates the
suggestions from the 2007 monitors' post-election report into
the next round of elections. Abdi welcomed the teams, but
worried that a positive report would give international
credibility to a "still broken system." An NGO
representative in Mrirt said that the European Union (EU) had
allowed the GOM to "buy off" domestic observers by funneling
monies through the Moroccan Ministry of Finance instead of
directly to observers. Even though it was EU money, he said,
it made the local observers essentially government employees
and not independent.


7. (C) More than one interlocutor said that they expect a
number of ballots to be declared invalid due to being
incorrectly filled out. In 2002, they said, the Istiqlal
Party won by 500,000 votes, but approximately 1 million
ballots were declared invalid. This was not attributed to
corruption, but procedural ignorance and poor voter education
(particularly among illiterate voters). However, it had the
effect of canceling out a portion of the participating
electorate. Some felt that the new ballots might be more
confusing than the old card system and lead to similar
problems on a greater scale, although the new ballots were
also thought to be more tamper resistant.

--------------
SOME WAYS THE GAME IS PLAYED
--------------


8. (C) We heard from a variety of sources that electoral
corruption and subversion begins with constituency
boundaries. The Ministry of Interior reportedly drew
Khenifra's district boundaries along tribal lines over twenty
years ago. Keeping tribal blocks intact allowed the
government to bribe customary leaders who then delivered all
the votes in their constituencies as directed. Modern-day
parties still use the old system and bribe leaders in rural
areas and slums to line up their peoples' votes "Chicago
style." Mohammed Abdi described a campaign event in a rural
village where a candidate said "I'm not going to give you a
program, I'm going to give you money." Parties are no longer
allowed to feed people for votes, but circumvent new rules by
hosting lavish lunches during day-long official campaign
events. A major local industrialist and candidate apparently
pays bribes to people visiting his oil facility under the
guise of business dealings.


9. (C) Opinions differed about whether parties should be
allowed to transport voters to polls. The Provincial
Campaign Director for the Popular Movement Union (UMP) said
that transport prohibitions were fine in urban areas, but
unrealistic in rural areas where voters had to travel long
distances. He then launched into a long discourse about how
many election rules are written for the urban context. Most
civil society representatives said that voter transport was
used to influence balloting. Kamal Mountassir wondered why
people had no problem getting themselves to the
administrative centers that also serve as polling stations
for normal matters during the year, but suddenly needed to be
driven to vote.


10. (C) Several individuals expressed curiosity and concern
over the fact that a large number of rural residents received
voter registration cards in the mail without ever having
registered. The MOI's new system is designed to require a
person to register and then physically and personally present
identification before receiving a registration card (Rabat
1340). FSN, who is registered in a rural district, confirmed
that he too received an unsolicited card. Interlocutors did
not know if this was evidence of wrongdoing, but it raised
their suspicions. They said that in the past, voter rolls
were packed with names and, toward the close of election day,
officials forged signatures of individuals who had not yet
voted and cast ballots for them.


11. (C) Kamal Mountassir, however, said that he did not

RABAT 00001392 003 OF 004


think officials would risk their careers for election day
shenanigans. Despite fraud by political parties, he thought
the GOM and MOI was remarkably neutral this year. "In 2002
they were passive and let anything happen. This year, they
seem truly neutral and take action when they need to against
violators." He said the King's speeches and a stern
admonition from the Minister of Interior to provincial
leaders around the country had a tangible effect on
functionaries' behavior. For the first time, he said, even
non civil servants engaging in corrupt acts are at least
doing it with the fear of getting caught, not with impunity.

--------------
BLURRY CAMPAIGN LINES EASY TO CROSS
--------------


12. (C) Mountassir added that Moroccan election law needed
better guidelines to delineate the roles of political
professionals and party activists. He said it is unclear who
can be paid for political activity and who cannot, leading to
situations where it is unknown if money paid is remuneration
or bribery. It has also created a class of professional
supporters. We met one such worker taking a break from
handing out pamphlets and being an enthusiastic crowd member
at rallies. He was at great pains to say that he was "only
paid, not a believer." He said that people at the local
party office did not really understand the national platform
and were simply focused on getting elected. He did not plan
to vote.



13. (C) All of our interlocutors agreed that the campaign
was more peaceful this year. As of August 29, there were no
reports of clashes in Khenifra and Mrirt between opposing
party activists, unlike in 2002. Nobody could say if this
was due to growing political maturity or apathy. A couple of
patrol officers said they expected problems over the weekend
and in the four days prior to elections. Raucous campaign
parades and convoys criss-crossed the city late into the
night accompanied by honking horns and chanting, but did not
seem to draw people who were not already participants. Party
pamphleteers shoved their wares at disinterested passersby.
We drove through many of the surrounding slums and saw poster
bedecked election cars and campaign workers at every stop,
but they did not draw large crowds. The PJD and Istiqlal
offices/cafes on one of Khenifra's main streets were full of
people, but many other parties' offices were shuttered.
Mountassir noted that parties were branding themselves more
this year through conspicuous use of their symbols in order
to affix images in illiterate voters' minds.

--------------
A POX ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES
--------------


14. (C) Both Mountassir and Party of Progress and Socialism
(PPS) candidate and Member of Parliament Abdellah Abassi said
that voters bear some of the responsibility for the current
situation. "If they stopped selling their votes, people
would stop buying them." Others said that members of
Parliament who visited their constituencies only to campaign
created a climate of electoral ennui. All we met said that
intensive, grass roots voter education (more than
parliamentary training) was absolutely necessary if the
electorate was to mature. Abassi added that USAID's
Parliamentary Support Project was excellent, but would only
be worthwhile in the long run if it was integrated into a
regular and long-term parliamentary orientation program. "If
you stop now, you will have wasted all your money."

--------------
"ELECTIONS AND POVERTY DO NOT MIX"
--------------


15. (C) In sometimes emotional and angry statements during a
roundtable with civil society representatives in Mrirt, a
small town 30 kilometers south of Khenifra, participants told
poloff that people were too busy surviving to think about
voting for a government that had forgotten them. Akbouch
Anouri, head of the Mrirt section of the National Election
Observatory said, "Elections and poverty don't mix.
Democracy needs social, economic, political and cultural
pillars to exist and we have none of them." Mohammed Afghou,

RABAT 00001392 004 OF 004


a member of the International Amazight (Berber) Congress,
said that he and most political Amazight were boycotting the
elections. He also refused to speak modern standard Arabic
as a protest against the "Arabization of Morocco." Another
speaker said that the only reason there was not a civil war
in the region yet was vestigial respect for the king.
Khenifra's role in Morocco's independence struggle was
recounted with pride, but people said they now had a sense of
being spurned and abandoned by a distant and disinterested
government.

-------------- --------------
CANDIDATES ARE NOT DISCUSSING DEAD VILLAGERS, BUT EVERYONE
ELSE IS
-------------- --------------


16. (C) Last winter, 31 residents in the remote village of
Anfgou died of cold. Interlocutors said that it was only
international press attention that goaded the GOM into
providing relief supplies. They added that the GOM did not
respond effectively to similar incidents related to livestock
deaths and human disease outbreaks over the past year that
did not receive press attention. Anouri said that when the
Wali (governor) and other officials visited Anfgou and the
other villages to encourage electoral participation,
residents threw stones at the party and turned in their voter
and national identification cards, saying they would rejoin
Morocco when it was ready to join them.


17. (C) Neither of the candidates and none of the party
officials we met with mentioned the above issue, but almost
everybody else did.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


18. (C) Poloff's experience in Khenifra and Mrirt differed
significantly from Econoff's August 2 pre-election sounding
trip to another part of the Trans Atlas region, which found a
much more optimistic populace (Rabat 1274). Although the
general electoral trends in Khenifra and Mrirt mirror those
in other parts of the nation, we were surprised at the depth
of anger and disenchantment with the political process and
the central government. Most of the party representatives we
met seemed out of touch with constituents' concerns, although
PPS candidate Abdellah Abassi was quite frank and open about
most issues. Residents, especially in Mrirt, seemed to lash
out at any symbol or source of power, whether domestic or
international. As noted, however, the palpable resentment in
the region will not necessarily preclude an "acceptable"
turnout on election day. Septel will follow with a focus on
the anger and anti-GOM and anti-USG sentiment encountered
during the visit. End comment.


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Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
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RILEY