DAS PATTON VISITS MOROCCO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 000157 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA - DAS PATTON AND NEA/PI USAID/W FOR DCHA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2018 TAGS: EAID KMPI ELAB PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI MO SUBJECT: DAS PATTON VISITS MOROCCO REF: RABAT 0054 Classified By: DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (c). ¶1. (U) Summary: DAS Kent Patton and MEPI Regional Director Peter Mulrean visited Casablanca and Rabat January 16-19 to discuss post's democracy reform activities, introduce the new Democracy Working Group program, and meet with Moroccan contacts from both the government and civil society. Patton's interlocutors stressed that Morocco continues to be a regional reform leader, and that while last September's parliamentary elections have brought important changes to Morocco's political landscape, continued focus on institutional capacity building remains essential. They also highlighted press freedom, judicial reform and anti-corruption as areas where additional work is required. End summary. IN-HOUSE MEETINGS -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In separate meetings with the Ambassador, the Mission's Reform Goal Team and ConOffs in Casablanca, Patton introduced the Democracy Working Group concept. Mission interlocutors highlighted a range of priorities, with the Ambassador emphasizing the need to assist nascent anti-corruption efforts in Morocco, given pervasive corruption that has led to widespread cynicism. Members of the Reform Goal Team emphasized the importance of USAID's Parliamentary Strengthening Program in helping deputies increase their relevance in the Moroccan political equation and credited the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) with facilitating Morocco's first ever use of international election observers last September. They also emphasized the success of the recently completed MEPI-funded Advancing Learning and Employability for a Better Future (ALEF) program that is helping to reform Morocco's educational system by employing teaching methods based on local dialects. This has resulted in vastly improved retention scores and a diminished dropout rate, success which led Moroccan education officials to decide to deploy the program more widely. Post plans to seek additional funding to assist in this effort. The issue of press freedom received significant attention and will be discussed septel. GOVERNMENT LEADERS -------------- ¶3. (C) In a meeting with Ambassador Youssef Amrani, Director General of Bilateral Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Patton reviewed the scope of MEPI-financed cooperation with Morocco. He also sought Morocco's help in convincing other Forum for the Future partners to agree to combine the postponed 2007 meeting with the 2008 meeting, a request to which Amrani assented. Amrani highlighted future government reform priorities, including seeking to enhance voter participation through better voter education. Other priorities included improving the Moroccan educational system, which Amrani argued would help disseminate the principles of gender equality, human rights and tolerance, and promoting financial transparency in government and business. He questioned only the U.S. emphasis on the need for further progress on press freedom. ¶4. (SBU) Like Amrani, Hami Narjise, Vice President of the Chamber of Representatives, expressed disappointment with the low voter turn out for the parliamentary elections and said that continued assistance like USAID's Parliamentary Strengthening Program is greatly needed. He argued politicians need to build trust and show that they are working for the nation's interests and not just their own. He suggested that deputies have all the tools they need to demonstrate influence but up to now have not used them properly. POLITICAL PARTIES -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Patton met with members of both the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to discuss their past work in strengthening political parties in Morocco. NDI also hosted a lively round table of members from major political parties. Deputies RABAT 00000157 002 OF 003 present expressed disappointment with the low level of participation, arguing it reflected the low level of confidence in political parties, dissatisfaction with widespread corruption, and the failure of candidates to campaign effectively. The discussion also highlighted the fact that Morocco's political parties continue to lack tools necessary to function as modern parties, as a result of systemic problems such as the short two-week campaign period, insufficient media coverage and inadequate campaign funding. The session also offered extensive comment on the entry of Palace confidant Fouad Ali Al Himma into politics, with one coalition deputy arguing it could retard democracy in Morocco because people were already too used to the King making decisions for them. However, he added that Morocco is not Tunisia and political pluralism was alive and well here. Another coalition member added that the 1996 constitution gave the Prime Minister sufficient powers to do his job, but so far, the holders of that office have not tried to fully use them, and there is no consensus in Morocco on how much power the Prime Minister should have. CIVIL SOCIETY -------------- ¶6. (U) Patton met with civil society leaders from a wide variety of fields in both Casablanca and Rabat. The discussions included the need for improvements in the educational system that continues to see four million children not attend school, a judiciary racked by corruption and favoritism, and a health care system with alarmingly high rates of infant and maternal mortality. Many of the participants felt the recent parliamentary elections were a failure because the political parties' programs did not address the needs of the electorate. However, most of them gave the King credit for trying to make changes on a number of fronts. Some said the King was waiting to resolve the situation in the Western Sahara before addressing other pressing social issues. They agreed that Morocco had made important progress during the last 10 years although numerous reforms were still needed and opined that reform should be demand driven. MEPI IMPLEMENTERS -------------- ¶7. (U) Members of the Morocco chapter of the MEPI Alumni Network (MMAN) highlighted the success of their organization to Patton and Mulrean. MMAN has 250 active members who participate in workshops, conferences and other alumni activities, of which three are current MPs and several others are parliamentary staffers. Most MMAN members are also members of other NGOs and this gives the group a very wide network of contacts throughout Morocco. Therefore, the group feels it is well positioned to promote cooperation between NGOs and the GOM. The group said its two primary areas of interest are education (echoing Amrani and civil society members) and boosting employment opportunities for Moroccans. MMAN already provides grant writing training to other NGOs to help them source financing for their various civic activities and the group is also exploring ways to ensure its sustainability after MEPI funding eventually runs out. Mulrean commented that MMAN was ahead of the curve when it came to MEPI Alumni Network activities. ¶8. (U) Younes Naoumi, Director of the NGO Association Action Jeunesse (2AJ),described the Youth Election Promotion Project, which received a MEPI local grant in 2007 to stimulate interest in the democratic process by holding student body elections in five local schools. The project was well received, though the fact that it ran before the September 2007 parliamentary elections caused some school administrators to suspect a hidden agenda in support of a particular candidate or party. The project successfully presented its key pre-election message of the importance of registering to vote and Younes hopes to expand the program into other parts of Morocco in the future. ¶9. (U) Comment: Though it still faces daunting challenges, Morocco is a regional leader in democratic reform and the Mission's efforts have contributed to this success. Patton,s Moroccan interlocutors all asked for continued USG programming to help promote further reforms. They pointed to the Parliamentary Strengthening program and ALEF in RABAT 00000157 003 OF 003 particular as programs that have laid a base from which further progress can be realized. Equally important is the MEPI alumni network, which has created synergies between programs and offers a vehicle for MEPI alumni to continue to remain engaged in the future. End comment. ¶10. (U) This message has been cleared by DAS Patton. ***************************************** Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat ***************************************** Riley