FES MAYOR BECOMES NEW TRADE UNION LEADER AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L CASABLANCA 000034

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2019
TAGS: ELAB PGOV MO
SUBJECT: FES MAYOR BECOMES NEW TRADE UNION LEADER AND
POLITICAL HEAVYWEIGHT

Classified By: CG Elisabeth Millard for reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The General Union of Moroccan Workers
(UGTM),one of Morocco,s largest trade unions, elected a new
secretary general at its annual congress on January 29th.
The leadership of the trade unions, much like the political
parties with which they are affiliated, rarely changes and
often has leaders for life. The election of Hamid Chabat, the
populist mayor of Fes from the ruling Istiqlal party, to be
the new Secretary General of UGTM is a story of personal
ambition and political dexterity which sheds some light on
the opaque world of intra-union politics. Chabat is a rising
star in the Istiqlal party, though some observers of the
Moroccan political scene question if he can rise much higher
given that his family lacks the proper pedigree. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) The UGTM is Morocco,s fourth largest trade union with
approximately 50,000 registered members. Founded in 1959,
the union is the closely linked to the ruling Istiqlal
(Independence) party of Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi. The
senior leadership of almost all of the trade unions, even
more than the political parties they represent, is fossilized
and populated by leaders that serve for decades at a time.
For example, the current head of the largest trade federation
in Morocco, the Union of Moroccan Workers (UMT) Mahjoub Ben
Seddiq, has retained his leadership position since the
union's formation in 1955.


3. (C) The UGTM,s internal leadership change was
particularly unusual because it played out partially in the
public eye. The ousted former Secretary General Mohammed Al
Andalouss Benjelloun and Chabat hurled insults at each other
via interviews in the press. Benjelloun complained of being
the victim of a "plot" and "illegal attacks" by the
supporters of Chabat. Responding to allegations of
corruption, Benjelloun insisted that when he took over the
leadership of the UGTM, the coffers were empty and that the
union was ten thousand U.S. dollars in debt. Under his
leadership, he asserted, the union has been restored to
financial health.

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Cycle of Union Corruption
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4. (C) The allegations of corruption is unsuprising since the
UGTM has a history of malfeasance among its senior
leadership. In fact, Benjelloun came to power with the help
of Chabat in a putsch in 2005 against then Secretary General
Abderrzak Afilal. Afilal, the leader of the UGTM since its
foundation in 1960, was widely regarded as corrupt. His
ouster by Chabat and Benjelloun was preceded by his
indictment on 11 counts of fraud and embezzlement by the
Moroccan courts. He stands accused of having received bribes
and embezzled funds in excess of two million U.S. dollars in
connection with an urban renewal project and for purchasing a
luxurious villa for a fraction of its true cost, all the
while serving as the head of the trade union and president of
the commune of Ain Sebaa in Casablanca. The prosecution of
Afilal, who is now quite old and ill, has been put on hold
and observers are skeptical that he will ever face justice.


5. (C) Chabat in the run up to the election told the press
that Benjelloun was ¬ the man to face the current
challenges of the union8 and that he had a &mentality from
the 1950s." The public mudslinging unnerved the Istiqlal
party. According to Mohammed Kabbaj, a member of the
executive committee of the UGTM, Istiqlal tried to mediate
the dispute but eventually sided with Chabat. In the early
January, Benjelloun was stripped of his position as secretary
general by the executive committee of the union. At the
UGTM's congress that took place on January 27th and 28th,
Chabat was elected by a unanimous vote and also took over
Benjelloun,s position on the executive committee of the
Istiqlal Party. Both Kabbaj and another executive committee
member, Lahcen Hansali, portrayed the ouster of Benjelloun to
poloff as a normal part of the "internal democracy" of the
UGTM. They claimed that Benjelloun's election in 2005 was a
temporary measure with a mandate of only one year and that he
had illegally continued to postpone the congress to prevent a
vote.


6. (C) Abdelhamid Chabat is best known for rising through the
ranks of the Istiqlal party to prominence in Fez while coming
from a humble background. As a young man of modest means,
Chabat worked as a laborer in a factory that assembled
motorbikes. He was first elected to the parliament in 1990
representing the district of Fes Achamalia. He was
subsequently elected to be the mayor of Fes in 2003. Since

his election he has received even more publicity after
successfully outmaneuvering municipal representatives of the
socialist USFP party in the distribution of project funds and
procedural matters related to the upcoming municipal
elections in Fes in June 2009. In addition, Chabat has the
reputation of being a fierce political opponent and a thug
who has often employed "shameful methods to divide his
adversaries and silence his critiques," according to the
weekly magazine, Le Journal. A mission employee who has
participated in a meeting with Chabat described him as unlike
any of the other politicians in Morocco. He is not refined
and smooth, the employee reported, but he is clearly very
influential and was treated with deferrence by all the
Moroccans present.

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Labor Unrest:
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7. (C) Chabat,s acession to the leadership occurred
simultaneous with a number of strikes in late January and
early February by public sector employees in favor of higher
wages (Septel). while the other major labor unions have
called for the government to dramatically increase civil
servant compensation, the UGTM has unequivocally sided with
the government alleging the strikes are politically
motivated, and characterizing the government's proffered wage
increase as "fair".


8. (C) COMMENT: Chabat's rise from obscurity to political
prominence is an exception to the rule in a country where
one's family connections are frequently the key determinant
to success in government and politics. This is especially
true among the elitist ruling families of Fes that form the
core the Istiqlal party. Chabat appears to have compensated
for this shortcoming by sheer drive, political astuteness,
and reported unsavory political tricks. Chabat, in his
ascent from a manual laborer in a factory, to mayor of the
royal city, and now head of a major trade union, has
sucessfully divided and conquered his rivals. While there
has been considerable buzz about Chabat, many observers of
Moroccan politics do not believe he can rise much higher
within Istiqlal because of his humble origins. The
leadership of Istiqlal, they argue, is tightly controlled by
a handful of prominent families from Fes and other major
cities. However, these same critics would probably not have
predicted Chabat's success to date.
MILLARD