MOROCCO: KING CRITICIZED AT ELECTION ASSESSMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 RABAT 001864

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2017
TAGS: KDEM PHUM PGOV MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO: KING CRITICIZED AT ELECTION ASSESSMENT

REF: RABAT 1504

Classified By: Polcouns Craig Karp for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) The final reports of the international and domestic
election observation efforts praised the Government of
Morocco's (GOM) execution of the September 7 elections.
Speakers at the roll-out, hosted by the royally sanctioned
human rights council, were blunt in their criticism of
parties and, unusually, the king for their roles in the
disappointing 37 percent electoral turnout, but congratulated
the Ministry of Interior (MOI) for its newfound transparency.
Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Bondevik, a Club of
Madrid member, pressed Morocco on the need for fundamental
constitutional reform, including a reduction of the king's
role in political life. Prominent Moroccan academics and
activists were even more explicit, with one stating that
constitutional reform is irrelevant if the king does not
respect constitutional limits. These comments were made in
full view of TV cameras and GOM officials. There was general
agreement on the need to establish an independent electoral
commission. End Summary.


2. (U) The Consultative Council for Human Rights (CCDH),the
National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the NGO Election
Observation Collective (the NGO Collectif) convened a
day-long seminar on December 14 at CCDH headquarters to
present their observation reports and discuss their
implications. Across the board, the heads of the three
efforts praised the Ministry of Interior (MOI) for the
transparent and efficient way in which the elections were
conducted.

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Foreigners Obliquely Criticize the King
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3. (SBU) Former Norwegian Prime Minister and Club of Madrid
member Kjell Bondevik said that Morocco had taken a
significant step forward in its execution of the September
elections, but that the 37 percent turnout demonstrated broad
frustration with the political status quo. He said that the
2005 political party law, which was intended to improve
financial transparency, promote party effectiveness and
consolidate Morocco's "balkanized" parties by restricting
public funding to parties that win at least 5 percent of the
national vote, was well intentioned but insufficient. He
said that the September balloting showed that people believe
parliament is ineffective and irrelevant. Only
constitutional reforms which give Parliament more legal
authority will give the institution credence. In a veiled
stab at the Palace, he closed by emphasizing that "democracy
means sharing power."


4. (U) Gerard Latulippe, NDI Morocco Director, said that 70
percent of Moroccans registered, but only 37 percent of that
amount actually voted. Of the 37 percent, 19 percent of
local list and 20 percent of the national list ballots were
spoiled (reftel),so only 20 percent of registered voters
cast a ballot for a party. He criticized political parties
for an inability to mobilize the populace, but laid the bulk
of the blame on a political system which "makes parliament
powerless." He also raised the issues of improving
handicapped access to polling stations, ensuring the
neutrality of local level officials and lengthening the
two-week-long campaign season to allow parties to address
issues more substantively. He closed by saying that the
international observer mission had complete cooperation from
the MOI, but encouraged the GOM to codify observers' rights
and responsibilities in order to avoid credentialling issues.


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Moroccans Explicitly Criticize the King
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5. (U) Prominent analyst and academic Mohammed Darif said
that the 2005 party law clarified parties' role but, since
the constitution does not allow power sharing with the king,
it is irrelevant. (Note: Darif hesitated and stumbled a bit
before actually saying the word "king". End Note.) He said
that low participation was not necessarily a sign of poor
party campaigning, but a result of Morocco's lack of a

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"democratic culture." He said that there is no moderate
voice defending the idea and culture of civic engagement.
Its current main proponents are Islamist parties and the far
left, he stressed. Darif doubted that constitutional reform
would have much of an effect, saying that Moroccans are
culturally pre-disposed to look to the king for guidance and
governmental efficiency, not politicians.


6. (U) Another academic, Mohammed Gallaoui, asked what was
the point of reform if the King refused to respect
constitutional limits. He said the current constitution
actually provided Parliament with enough authority and
prerogatives, but that the Palace habitually usurped the
legislature's and government's legal position. He said that
most parliamentarians and government officials referred to
themselves as "obeying the king's orders," (Note: Most
prominently, PM El Fassi. End Note.) which was emblematic of
the larger problem. He also criticized parties for mirroring
tribal authority structures, with the same regional and
familial ties of allegiance. He accused parties of political
"maraboutism," (i.e. developing a personality cult around
leaders) and urged the government to address issues of
clan-based corruption and the use of tribal pressure to force
votes for a certain candidate, saying that this was the
"fundamental heart of electoral subversion in Morocco."


7. (U) Abdelaziz Nouidi, a lawyer and President of the NGO
Adala (Justice) pleaded for more effective anti-corruption
activities in the pre-election period. He also suggested
removing the re-districting process from the MOI's purview
and giving it to a Parliamentary committee. The notional
re-districting committee's decisions would have to be
ratified by a council of judges, and appeals could be made to
the Supreme Court. He also called for the establishment of
an independent electoral commission. He closed by
challenging parties and organizations (such as U.S. and
internationally funded Daba 2007) to do a better job of
encouraging participation in the political system, but
commented that it is "hard to put shiny wrapping on a bad
product to convince people to buy it." Activist Benyounis
Marzouki echoed previous sentiments but pushed hard for the
GOM to seriously consider and adopt the three reports'
recommendations.


8. (C) Throughout the proceedings, Ministry of the Interior
(MOI) Governor Rachid Rguibi, a known hard-liner, listened
without comment or expression. TV cameras from national
stations covered the comments.

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Reports' Conclusions
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9. (U) All three reports generally agreed on the following
points:

-The MOI's technical preparation and execution was excellent.
National results were posted rapidly and discrepancies were
corrected quickly and transparently. Precinct level results,
however, have still not been published.

- The redistricting conducted in 2007 created unacceptable
and significant discrepancies in the numbers of votes
required to elect representatives. The NGO Collectif's
report showed that in Ain Sbaa, each seat represented 83,000
residents, while in Madiaq, only 23,000. International
standards recommend that there should be no greater that a 25
percent difference from seat to seat.

- Voter registration went smoothly but, since there is no
formal process governing the provision of voter registration
lists to parties, questions were raised concerning the
transparency of revisions made to the lists prior to the
elections.

-Both the governmental and non governmental voter education
efforts were praised for their creativity and breadth of
information diffusion.

-Women were poorly represented in both candidate lists and
within the parties' election management and observation
efforts. The NGO Collectif and the CCDH reports showed that
only one percent of party election observers were women. The
CCDH's report stated that only two percent of overall
candidates were women.

-Parties initially mounted serious, platform-based campaigns,

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but substance was often subsumed by personality as they chose
well known candidates to run campaigns based on name
recognition rather than issues.

-Parties and candidates were given appropriate access to the
media. NDI's report expressed concern over increased media
restrictions. The NGO Collectif broke coverage down by type
and subject. Its survey of 10 party affiliated and 15
independent papers revealed the following: There were 3974
election related articles before the campaign season started,
2537 during the official two-week campaign period, and 1955
on election day. Fifteen percent of the overall stories
related to violations of election law. Of these, 30 percent
concerned vote-buying, 23 percent focused on illegal
distribution or posting of campaign materials and 13 percent
questioned authorities' neutrality. Thirty seven percent of
party newspapers published articles related to women, while
60 percent of independent papers did. Only 15 percent of
interviews were conducted with women.

-Voters who had not picked up their voting cards prior to
election day had difficulty finding the appropriate polling
station. Access to polling stations by those with special
needs was also problematic.

-Party poll watchers were present at all stages of the
process, adding to the overall perception of administrative
transparency. The NGO Collectif's report was the most
critical of low level local officials for violating
governmental neutrality.

-Fewer domestic observers than expected were deployed as they
did not receive official credentials until the evening before
elections began.

-Vote-buying was a serious issue in many areas, and its
extent called into question the election's basic fairness.
The NGO Collectif processed 7961 observer reports. There
results showed that 25 percent of their observers witnessed
illegal campaigning on election day. Eighteen percent
witnessed bribery of some kind during the campaign season or
on election day.

-The vote count went smoothly and party poll watchers
generally received signed protocols showing results at the
polling station to which they were assigned. Final results
were posted promptly by general district.

-Results showed that only 37 percent of registered voters
cast ballots. Of that amount, 19 percent of the local
ballots and 28 percent of the national list ballots were
blank, spoiled, or protest votes. These rates are considered
higher than international norms.

-Parties and candidates continued to create unrealistic
expectations among voters regarding the ability of lower
house members of parliament MP) to affect bread and butter
issues such as road repair and jobs. When MPs cannot deliver
on their electoral promises, the institutions reputation
suffers further damage.

--The electoral law and districts in Morocco serve to
fragment power within parliament, limiting its effectiveness
and further undermining its reputation.

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Recommendations
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10. (U) All three reports had the following recommendations
in common:

-Explore effective reforms aimed at re-engaging voters in the
political process;

-Modify the electoral system and laws to minimize
fragmentation of power in parliament;

-Formalize a system for parties to audit voter lists, and
analyze revisions;

-Consider extending the campaign period longer than two weeks;

-Institute transparency of political party financing;

-Develop a mechanism for election day workers to vote via
absentee ballot;

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-Facilitate easier access to polling stations for disabled
persons;

-Pass into law clear guidelines for accrediting domestic and
international observers;

-Empower an independent election commission to administer
future elections;

-Increase women's political participation as candidates,
party activists, and election administrators and observers;

-Amend polling procedures to help voters unable to pick up
voter cards in advance of election day; and

-Promptly report precinct level data.


11. (U) We are sending a copy of the NDI Report to NEA/MAG

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Comment
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12. (C) Morocco deserves full credit for allowing extensive
international and domestic monitoring of the September
elections. Long-term issues related to endemic electoral
corruption, an ineffective parliament, powers of the monarchy
and lack of credible parties continue to hamper further
reform. The blunt and public criticism leveled against the
king during the seminar is an indicator of the level of
concern over the implications of the low turnout on September

7. However, the generally rapid and transparent announcement
of results on election day allowed both voters' and
non-voters' messages to be clearly heard. As such, it is
another example of how far Morocco has come in the field of
human rights and freedom of expression. End comment.


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Jackson