MOROCCO: REP. HASTINGS ENGAGES PARLIAMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 001194 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR NEA/MAG AND H E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL OREP PGOV WI AG MO SUBJECT: MOROCCO: REP. HASTINGS ENGAGES PARLIAMENT ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) Representative Alcee Hastings encouraged members of the Morocco's lower house of parliament to press the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCEPA) to allow greater participation by non-member partner states in OSCEPA meetings. He proposed holding a formal consultation in the CSCE in Washington with OSCEPA Mediterranean Partners to discuss ways to update and reform the OSCE and suggested he could accept an intern from Morocco. The Moroccan parliamentarians welcomed the visit and expressed interest in Hastings' proposals. They encouraged the United States to continue pushing for a resolution to the Western Sahara issue. End Summary. -------------- The OSCE and its Mediterranean Partners -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In a December 1 meeting with members of the Moroccan Chamber of Deputies (lower house of parliament), CSCE Chairman Representative Alcee Hastings (D - FL),who was in Morocco as the special representative of the Chairman of the OSCEPA, encouraged Moroccan Members of Parliament (MPs) to pressure the Parliamentary Assembly to amend its rules to allow for greater participation by non-member observer states, such as Morocco, at OSCEPA meetings. He specifically suggested that they request a clarification of the definition of an oral question in OSCEPA by-laws to allow non-members greater latitude to engage in OSCE ministerial and parliamentary deliberations. Hastings commended Morocco for its substantive engagement in the OSCE's Mediterranean Partners program and offered to invite appropriate MPs to a consultation session he is planning to hold in Washington, DC in 2009 in the CSCE to gather input from non-member OSCE partners on reforming and updating the organization. ¶3. (SBU) Rep. Hasting's host at parliament, Mustapha Ibrahimy, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies' Human Rights Committee and member of the leftist Union of Popular Socialist Forces (USFP),said that the Chamber's President, Mustapha Mansouri, had wanted to meet Rep. Hastings, but was regrettably overseas. Migration and trafficking issues (human and narcotic) occupied much of the Chamber's engagement with European parliamentarians. Through its representatives to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Chamber remains committed to continued dialogue within a "framework of respect for human rights and women's equality." He and others expressed interest in Hasting's proposed hearing. -------------- Morocco, Algeria and Western Sahara -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Ibrahimy and others criticized Algeria for refusing to open its border with Morocco, which was "catastrophic" and a "threat to regional security and integration." Ibrahimy grumbled that Algiers ignored King Mohammed VI's overtures and conciliatory gestures. Member of the Islamist-inspired Party of Justice and Development (PJD) and Second Vice-President of Parliament Abdallah Baha said that recent statements by Polisario leadership alluding to a return to armed struggle were "unhelpful" and he urged the USG to remain engaged. USFP MP Khalid El Hariri said "this frozen conflict served nobody's purposes." ¶5. (SBU) Khalid El Hariri warned against taking too simplistic a view of what constituted security, saying that economic development, more effective intelligence services, trusted police, equality and justice all "conspired" to create a safe Morocco and that "no one thread could be broken from the others" in the pursuit of stability. He added that environmental issues should be part of the security debate. He criticized the USG for not participating in the Kyoto climate discussions and encouraged the incoming Obama administration to do so. -------------- RABAT 00001194 002 OF 002 A Woman's Voice -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Mbarka Bouaida, of the centrist National Rally of Independents (RNI),the lone woman in the group, said that increasing women's participation in the political process was one of the most important challenges currently before Parliament. She said that new amendments to the electoral code passed on November 28 were designed to increase female representation at the local and national level from under 1 percent to 12 to 15 percent. She expressed a hope the OSCE Mediterranean Partner program could help support Morocco's efforts to promote women's representation. -------------- Almost No Parliamentary Staff -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Rep. Hastings strongly encouraged the legislature to strengthen professional staff capacity and training in order to improve institutional ability to research and produce appropriate legislation. As an example, Rep. Hastings explained that he has 17 staffers in his congressional office and 13 attached to his CSCE position. One of the Moroccans ruefully retorted, "I have one tea server." (Note: Parliament as a whole has only has a limited cadre of staffers. Many are hired for patronage, performing basic service functions only. Members have no personal professional legislative staff. End Note.) In response, Rep. Hastings made a standing offer to place a Moroccan staff intern in his office if parliament sent him one, to begin the exchange of ideas and skills between the U.S. Congress and Moroccan Parliament. Some deputies expressed interest in this proposal. ¶8. (U) Rep. Hastings did not have an opportunity to clear this cable before his departure. ***************************************** Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat ***************************************** Riley