COURT RULING SETS BACK KING'S EFFORT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000141

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM KWMN MO
SUBJECT: COURT RULING SETS BACK KING'S EFFORT TO
CONSOLIDATE PARTIES

REF: RABAT 2176

Classified by Polcouns Craig Karp for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: In a decision that could lead to enhanced
separation of powers in Morocco, the Constitutional Court has
struck down a provision of the bill revising the electoral
code that would have required small parties to either merge
with larger parties or sit out the 2007 parliamentary
elections. However, the court upheld another controversial
provision of the bill which would deny smaller parties seats
on the 30-member list (informally) reserved for women. Women
MPs from smaller parties vowed to continue to oppose this
provision, calling it a "victory for the (Islamist) PJD."
The court's rejection of the small party threshold represents
a setback for the King's effort to promote consolidation of
parties, intended principally to counterbalance the PJD. The
success of the small parties in challenging the bill may make
the Constitutional Court a more common venue of last resort
as competing groups wrestle over legislation. End summary.

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Ruling Favors Small Parties...
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2. (SBU) Parliamentary contacts confirmed to the Embassy on
January 25 reports that Morocco's (judicial) Constitutional
Council has found unconstitutional a clause in the bill
revising the electoral code (reftel) which sets a threshold
for political parties' participation in parliamentary
elections, the next round of which will occur sometime before
October, most likely in early or late summer. The clause
struck down by the council stipulated that parties must have
received at least three percent of the general vote in the
2002 elections in order to field candidates in 2007 (and
beyond).


3. (C) This clause, intended to combat "balkanization" and
press small groupings to merge into larger blocs, was
fiercely opposed by many small parties, who deemed it
undemocratic. MP Milouda Hazeb, who represents a district in
Marrakesh for the small Constitutional Union party, which
currently holds 16 out of the lower house's 325 seats,
complained bitterly to poloff during a January 19 meeting
that the three percent threshold discriminated against
smaller parties like her own.

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...But Not Women from Small Parties
--------------


4. (C) When reached for comment on January 25, Hazeb welcomed
the Council's rejection of the three percent threshold, but
expressed deep regret that the Council had upheld another
clause which requires parties to win six percent or more of
the general vote in order to take one of the 30 seats
informally reserved for women on the "national list." The
court's upholding of this clause, Hazeb asserted, will mean
that the women occupying the 30 seats will now only come from
the biggest parties represented in parliament "most probably
from the (Islamist) Justice and Development Party. "This
will be a major setback for Moroccan women, who will now only
be represented by the biggest parties. The national list
will no longer represent the diversity of Moroccan women,"
she asserted.


5. (C) Hazeb told poloff she and other female
parliamentarians from small parties would aggressively lobby
the Prime Minister, the Justice Minister, and counselors in
the Royal Palace to not allow the six percent threshold to
stand. Their ability to get the bill changed at this late
stage appears to be a long shot. (Note: The King
theoretically has the power to amend this or any bill before
it is published, but in practice this power has not been
exercised since the reign of Hassan II. End note.)


6. (C) NDI Morocco's resident director Gerard Latulippe
echoed many of Hazeb's comments regarding the council's
recent decision in a January 25 conversation with poloff.
Latulippe also added that while eliminating the three percent
threshold is a victory for the small parties, the socialist
USFP, a senior partner in the ruling coalition, will likely
protest the decision. For the USFP, allowing small parties,
many of which have resulted as off-shoots of the USFP, to run
candidates will likely result is less votes for the USFP,
possibly playing into the hands of the (mainly Berber) UMP or
the (Islamist) PJD.

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Comment
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RABAT 00000141 002 OF 002




7. (C) The court's decision represents a setback for efforts
to implement the King's call, made during his October speech
opening parliament, for consolidation of parties and reducing
the "balkanization" of the political landscape. Mohammed
VI's consolidation call is an effort to reverse his father's
legacy of a fractured and weak political party system, long
viewed as a means of stability and control but now viewed as
an obstacle to streamlining and reform. Perhaps more
important, it is a means of strengthening traditional parties
in the face of growing support for the Islamist PJD.


8. (C) Comment continued: The small parties' decision to
challenge the bill in the Constitutional Council, and their
success in doing so, represents a landmark of sorts. In the
era of Hassan II, observers note, the parties would have been
more likely to accept with resignation the imposition of the
larger parties' (and the Palace's) will, with the assumption
that the Constitutional Council would not dare issue a ruling
that defied the King. Such assumptions appear to be erroding
in the Morocco of Mohammed VI and may well make the
Constitutional Court a more common venue of last resort as
competing interests wrestle over legislation. End comment.


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Riley