“The theory is good, but perhaps 20% is useful. The programs are a bit pre-formatted.” This is quote from a Moroccan politician pretty much sums up the dark side democracy assistance these days. Check out Anna Khakee’s new piece for FRIDE for the full assessment of democracy assistance programs in Morocco. Also, here is another critical look by Khakee of the EU approach to reforming the Moroccan Justice system.

I’ve been on a different planet for the past few months but I’m back with some great links on patronage and politics (these two words should always go together in Morocco-and most countries, for that matter). Check out Si Maati’s latest piece on the USFP as well as a new report by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy assessing opportunities for engaging political actors for reform in Egypt, Morocco and Iran. Transparency International has a bland yet informative report on good governance in the Middle East. And, if you are thinking of running a country club bar through a made-up NGO receiving local government funds, think again! The Moroccan Cour des Comptes is on your trail!

The clamor over the closure of Le Journal continues amidst an environment in which the parameters of free speech within the kingdom seem to be shrinking daily. Just days after Le Journal’s offices were shut down, a blogger was arrested for organizing a bloggers’ strike. All of this on the heels of a critical Human Rights Watch report that the Moroccan government has been handicapped to rebut.

It is telling that the cover story of Le Journal’s final issue focused on the failure of Moroccan diplomacy to foresee the fallout over the public diplomacy debacle that was the Aminatou Haidar Affair. It concluded that Morocco’s expensive image management could not substitute for diplomacy; that nominal improvements in women’s rights could no longer convince Hillary Clinton to overlook human rights violations in the Western Sahara or mounting attacks against the independent press.

This latest chain of events puts a dent in Morocco’s reputation on the world stage, stalling the momentum of Morocco’s most important foreign policy objective (its autonomy plan for the Western Sahara). As one analyst points out, these mounting cases of repression embolden Morocco’s main opponents—the Algeria-backed POLISARIO separatist movement.

The fact that Moroccan officials do not recognize that safeguarding gains made in the most basic human rights—freedom of expression and organization—is in their national interest is testament to the growing insecurity and knee-jerk repressive comportment of the makhzen. A new and invigorated image management campaign should be predicated on a commitment to human rights, not constructing Potemkin villages.

Issandr Amrani has a good piece out on the recent closure of Le Journal Hebdomadaire, Morocco’s first publication to push the newly expanding boundaries of free speech at the end of King Hassan’s rule ten years ago. I have enjoyed reading Le Journal for four years now and its state-ordered demise is a major blow to Morocco’s experiment with press freedom. In a different but related story, the editor of another outspoken French-language weekly (TelQuel), Réda Benchemsi, has a great editorial this week on Morocco’s National Press Agency (MAP) becoming a propaganda tool. Although this is nothing new, Benchemsi writes that today the MAP now acts as the sun whose rays dictate which way Moroccan elites (“a field of sunflowers”) orient themselves.

Human Rights Watch just released its 2009 report chronicling what has been a rather disappointing year in Moroccan human rights.

It has taken me a week, but I’ve finally gotten around to sharing some thoughts on the recent remaniement ministérial. From first glance, the cabinet reshuffling appears to be about building momentum for upcoming reforms (regionalization) and promoting qualified technocrats, but this is more of a media-friendly backdrop. It doesn’t take much scratching to find a web of settled scores and political calculations below the surface. Here are a few essentials: 1)      The Interior Ministry was handed over to Taieb Cherkaoui, president of the Moroccan Supreme Court, after the disastrous handling of the Aminatou Haidar Affair by the outgoing minister. The promotion of Cherkaoui, who has very strong kinship ties to the palace, represents a dangerous fusion of the penal and security systems.   2)      The announcement of Mohommed Naciri—an accomplished lawyer representing numerous royal interests—raises similar concerns. Although Cherkaoui and Naciri are both eminently qualified, one has to ask: are people so closely tied to the palace capable of pushing for a more independent judiciary or greater rule of law if such reforms curtail the powers of their patrons?  3)      El Himma’s pick: The choice of Driss Lachguer as Minister for Parliamentary Affairs is the most calculated. Lachgar is an outspoken champion of moving his USFP party back to the opposition and collaborating with the PJD. Lachguer’s entrance into government lays to rest any rapprochement with the Islamists in the foreseeable future. El Himma, best friend of the king, and his PAM party are smiling behind the scenes. 4)      Majidi’s pick: The choice of Yassir Znagui is slightly more encouraging. He was a successful banker for Citibank London who created a tourism investment fund in Morocco. He is young but appears qualified. Znagui also has close ties to the king’s money manager and omnipotent bandit Mounir Majidi.

The Moroccan Government underwent a cabinet reshuffling yesterday with five (5) ministers being replaced; including Justice, Tourism, Interior, Public Modernization and Relations with Parliament.

Mohammed Meskaoui, National Coordinator for the Protection of Public Assets, lashed out over the lack of transparency in the development of the Finance Law. He also said, “90% of parliamentarians are financially illiterate.” A senior USFP official recently proclaimed that atleast 25% of MPs were drug barons. What is the percentage of drug barrons in parliament who are also financially illiterate?

Saharan activist Aminatou Haidar finally ended her hunger strike after she was let back into Laayoune following the intervention of French President, Nicholas Sarkozy.

Check out Maghreb Politics Review for a comprehensive analysis of the tragedy unfolding over the fate of Sahrawi activist, Aminatou Haidar. Her hunger strike in a Canary Island airport has almost reached one month and doctors expect her to die soon unless immediate action is taken.

AFP reports that the 3-yr prison sentence for human rights activist, Chakib Khayari, was upheld today in a Casablanca appeals court. Khayari was sentenced earlier this year after exposing the involvement of senior officials in Morocco’s drug trade in the northern city of Nador. Bloggers and activists around the world have since pleaded for his release and several on-line petitions have also circulated. Criminal convictions of those courageous activists who expose corruption do not bode well for Morocco, who has seen its corruption rating slide once again in the 2009 Corruptions Perceptions Index by Transparency International. Morocco has gone from 45th place to 89th over the past ten years.

Eric Goldstein, the Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch, just released a new piece calling for U.S. policymakers to reconsider Morocco as a model for reform in the region. He states, “To remain silent about Morocco’s backsliding because ‘it is better than its neighbors’ would promote complacency about a situation that, once a cause for hope, is threatening to settle down as one more stalled transition.” To make his case, Goldstein invokes a number of recent lapses in press freedom and crackdowns on dissidents.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at length on US-Morocco relations on the sidelines of the 6th annual Forum for the Future in Marrakech, November 2-3. She praised the 220 year friendship between our two countries and her own personal ties to the kingdom. With regards to US policy, she was unequivocal that the US stance in support of Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Western Sahara “has not changed.” She also enthusiastically praised reforms undertaken by King Mohammed, especially with regards to women’s empowerment. Likewise, she mentioned the United State’s commitment to development in Morocco, including such major projects as the $700 million Millennium Challenge Account. Click here for Clinton’s remarks. Video is also available here.

Moroccan daily Assabah reported yesterday that the PAM will submit a proposal to parliament seeking to redirect budget control and spending from regional governors and mayors (under the control of the Ministry of Interior) to locally elected bodies (municipal and regional councils). It is unlikely that such a major change in governance will take place—as it would dramatically weaken the hand of the Ministry of Interior (and therefore the Palace) in controlling local affairs and regional development. The fact that the PAM proposed it, however, does tell us something.
In other news, the Ministry of Interior is carrying out a new capacity building training program for council members in five major cities throughout the kingdom. The trainings will focus primarily on resource management. Are both of these initiatives—aimed at empowering and improving local councilors—actually sincere or likely to lead to major changes in governance? Probably not. But they should be lauded nonetheless.

Global Voices has a great summary of the latest press crackdowns in Morocco. There have been so many as of late that Ms. York will need to start doing this kind of post every month.

In other parliamentary news, the PAM’s Secretary General Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah was just elected President of the House of Advisors (Morocco’s Upper House). In an unsurprising move, Biadillah “urged the members of the House to support the major projects launched by the Kingdom under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.”

King Mohammed VI kicked off the Fall session of parliament last Friday with a speech calling for the establishment of a new Economic and Social Council to “serve as a watchdog and as a powerhouse of proposals for public policy guidelines in economic, social and sustainable development sectors.” How this new body will interact with the current government is still not clear. However, one thing is certain: since it will be created by king, its members will enjoy widespread authority and no major political actor will dare criticize the Council’s raison d’être or objectively evaluate its progress—so as not to be seen as challenging the king’s authority. This is another unfortunate consequence of a king with so much vision, yet whose closest advisors tolerate no open policy debate.

Maati Monjib of Brookings just came out with a new piece discussing women’s political participation in light of the new local gender quota implemented before the June municipal elections. Here is a post I made commenting on Monjib’s piece and critiquing the discourse on gender quotas.

Human Rights Watch has released a new detailed report criticizing the Interior Ministry’s practice of delaying registration for controversial civil society organizations (anti-corruption, Berber rights, etc.).  Such restrictions have been used to curtail meetings and bring legal measures against unregistered groups that do carry out activities. The Moroccan government responded today denouncing the report for “not being objective.” A senior official within the Ministry of Interior even accused the authors of belonging to an undefined group of conspirators “trying to take Morocco’s territorial integrity hostage.”

Under Secretary of State for the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman, met with Moroccan Foreign Minister Taib Fassi-Fihri at the United Nations yesterday. The two discussed a host of bilateral issues including security in the Sahel and the Isreali-Palestinian conflict. Feltman stated that the talks were “extremely constructive” and that both countries have “communication channels open.”