VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FORMALLY INVESTS A SHAKY

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 001690

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM MO
SUBJECT: VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FORMALLY INVESTS A SHAKY
EL-FASSI GOVERNMENT

REF: RABAT 1647 AND PREVIOUS

Classified by DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: An October 31 parliamentary vote of
confidence formally invested Prime Minister El-Fassi's
cabinet with full constitutional authority to govern. Due to
the absence of almost one quarter of the members, the
government was confirmed with less than a majority of the 325
seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Among those who voted, the
margin was comfortably in the new government's favor. The
vote came after several days of debate over PM El-Fassi's
outline of priorities, in which the Islamist opposition
dished out scathing criticism and even a key member party of
the governing coalition voiced open ambivalence. End
summary.


2. (C) On October 31, a parliamentary vote of confidence
formally invested Prime Minister El-Fassi's new cabinet with
authority to govern, a process stipulated by Article 24 of
the Moroccan constitution. One hundred and fifty-five
members of parliament voted in favor of the new government,
93 members voted against, and 7 abstained. Though state TV
described the vote as giving El-Fassi's government "a
comfortable majority," 70 of the 325 members of the Chamber
of Deputies were absent for this procedurally critical vote,
a fact likely to reinforce doubts among parliament's many
critics in the media and civil society about the
institution's strength and relevance. Even some normally
pro-government sources have been scathing about what this
turnout says about El-Fassi and the parliament he leads.


3. (C) The confidence vote came after five days of debate
which followed PM El-Fassi's October 24 speech outlining his
government's priorities (an event also marked by low
attendence among MPs). In the intervening five days, several
parliamentary groupings attacked the El-Fassi government and
its proposed program. The attacks were led by the Islamist
Justice and Development Party (PJD),which with 46 seats is
the largest single voting bloc in the opposition. The PJD
excoriated El-Fassi's plans to create 250,000 jobs per year
and overhaul the country's education system as vague and
unrealistic. Senior PJD leaders publicly predicted that the
El-Fassi government will fall within 1 to 2 years. We have
increasingly heard this prediction from both sides of the
aisle.


4. (C) Even the leftist USFP, a member of El-Fassi's
coalition, announced it would pursue a policy of "critical
participation" in the government. Mohammed Guessous, member
of the USFP's executive board, admitted to poloff that the
party was badly divided from within over the question of
participation in the government, while party deputy chair
Driss Lachgar told us candidly in a recent conversation that
the party "would participate in the government even as it
works to make it fall." Similarly, Fatiha El-Ayadi,
spokeswoman for the "Tradition and Modernity" bloc led by
royal confidante and former Deputy Interior Minister Fouad
Aly Al-Himma, told us in an October 30 meeting that her bloc
would provide support from a distance to the El-Fassi
government. El-Ayadi also predicted El-Fassi's government
would fall within two years.


5. (C) Comment: The vote of confidence was a legal formality,
and its outcome never in doubt. The absence of so many MPs
from the vote may partly reflect parliament's institutional
weakness and certainly reflects a lack of committment among
much of its membership. Working with the new parliament will
be one of post's priorities in the coming term. End comment.




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Riley