VZCZCXRO8232
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHRB #1161/01 3520928
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170928Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9446
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 3181
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 001161 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PPD, NEA/MAG, AND NEA/PI 
LONDON, PARIS, DUBAI FOR MEDIA HUBS 
 
E.0.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KDEM KPAO EAID KMPI MO
SUBJECT: Special Media Reaction: Election of Barack Obama 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Reflecting broad Moroccan interest in the U.S. 
presidential elections, the Moroccan press has been filled with 
reporting and commentary on the election of Barack Obama as 
America's 44th president.  Commentators variously aver that Obama's 
leadership will be to Morocco's benefit, detriment, or that 
relatively little will change.  The majority have expressed 
excitement over the prospects of an Obama presidency, exemplified by 
the weekly newspaper "La Verite," which wrote on 11/6: "For the 
United States, as for the world, the opening of a new door was 
necessary for this ravaged area [i.e. the Arab world]. ...This 
election [lifts] our spirits and creates a favorable starting 
point."  A handful suggested that this excitement may be misplaced, 
since Obama will serve American interests foremost.  Four 
overarching themes have emerged:  1) Obama's election will improve 
the U.S. image abroad (and indeed this was one reason Americans 
voted for him); 2) the upcoming Democratic administration may be 
less sympathetic to the Moroccan position on Western Sahara than the 
current administration; 3) the first election of an African-American 
President will positively impact the aspirations of minorities 
throughout the world; and 4) the lack of Moroccan participation in 
politics is not a reflection of disillusion with politics in 
general, but rather of Moroccan politics in particular.  End 
summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
Obama Will Restore U.S. Image 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  The first theme - that Americans elected Barack Obama to improve 
the United States' image abroad - surfaced in the numerous 
celebratory and complimentary pieces portraying Obama's election as 
positive for America and the world.  Commentators reflected on the 
President-elect's foreign policy promises to replace the Bush 
administration's "unilateralism" and "imperialism" with a more 
internationalist approach.  Many hoped and predicted that America's 
restored international standing would improve U.S. relations with 
Arab countries specifically. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Change for the Worse on Western Sahara? 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  At the same time, the Moroccan press evinced concern that the 
incoming Democratic administration would reevaluate the U.S. stance 
on Western Sahara and take a position less favorable to Morocco's. 
Some journalists wrote that Moroccan citizens were generally excited 
about the incoming Obama administration, while the Moroccan 
Government was wary.  This stems from a general Moroccan impression, 
reflected in the press coverage, that Republican administrations are 
more "pro-Moroccan." 
 
--------------------------- 
Implications for Minorities 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4.  The election of the first African-American president was 
overwhelmingly touted as a major achievement and inspiration to 
minorities world-wide.  Moroccan press coverage contrasted this 
result and the prominent role minorities play in American politics 
with the general lack of minority representation in European 
(especially French) elected politics.  Some commentary observed that 
Obama visited churches and synagogues but not mosques during his 
campaign, taking this as evidence that Muslim religious minorities 
could not expect to garner comparable respect. 
 
-------------------------- 
Interest in Politics . . . 
Just not Moroccan Politics 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Some commentators explored the phenomenon that Moroccans 
appeared far more interested in the U.S. elections than their own. 
Their conclusion was that Moroccans were not apolitical or 
apathetic; they followed the American elections closely because they 
felt that the results would have a direct impact on their lives. 
Moroccans' own votes, on the other hand, were perceived as having 
little pragmatic value or potential to affect political change 
because real power resided with non-elected figures, and because 
political parties were perceived to be corrupt and unresponsive to 
their constituencies. 
 
--------------------- 
Selected Block Quotes 
--------------------- 
 
¶6. "The Second American Revolution," editorial in pro-palace 
French-language daily "Le Matin," 12/3: 
 
 
RABAT 00001161  002 OF 002 
 
 
"Wherever outgoing President Bush failed and lacked acumen, Barack 
intends to make out of it a challenge to take up, even a question of 
credibility. The composition of the new team provides both the tone 
and the measure of the new stakes: restore the image of America, 
undermined by apocalyptic management for eight years now. Curious 
coincidence, it seems, that at the moment when the President-elect 
was nominating his government, George W. Bush believed it necessary 
to make his pathetic 'mea culpa' [on the faulty American 
intelligence about WMD in Iraq]... Without a doubt, the arrival of 
Barack Obama's team will soothe an America that has been constantly 
depressed under a cataclysmic presidency, and will reconcile the 
American people with their political leaders and the rest of 
humanity.  In other words, we will witness a second revolution of 
the U.S., after the election of a man of mixed race to the White 
House." 
 
¶7. "Americans have chosen Obama to mend fences with the world," in 
independent Arabic-language daily "Al Ahdath Al Maghrebiya," 11/24: 
 
"The world has received with great joy the news of the victory of 
Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the U.S. Presidential 
elections. By voting for the black candidate, Americans wanted the 
U.S. to mend fences with other peoples and get rid of George Bush's 
legacy...What interests Americans today is not to have a white or a 
black President, a Native American, or an Asian, but rather a new, 
appropriate president to pursue a new policy more beneficial to 
America, so that America can be strong in today's world with good 
relations with the different peoples of the world." 
 
¶8. "With morning coffee," daily commentary in independent 
Arabic-language daily Al Massae, 11/17: 
 
"Moroccans followed the latest American elections more than their 
own legislative and communal elections... Why? First, they know that 
elections in America and the nature of the candidate who wins will 
have an impact on many issues [that they care about], such as the 
war in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and 
also the nature of the position the new U.S. Administration takes 
regarding Arab regimes, democratic issues, human rights and the 
assistance that will be offered to these countries. Second, 
Moroccans followed with great interest the arrival of Barack Obama 
to the White House because he is close 'psychologically' to their 
feelings, due to his African origins, the fact that his father was a 
Muslim, and that he, himself, had studied in a Quranic school in 
Indonesia.  But also Moroccans' hate of Bush, as is the case in many 
other countries, have caused them to look forward to a change in the 
world's most powerful country... Third, Moroccans have been 
interested in U.S. elections because they lack democratic, 
competitive and genuine elections in their country." 
 
¶9. "The American lesson," in independent French-language daily "Le 
Soir," 11/17: 
 
"Who said that Moroccans were apolitical? Certainly they did 
massively boycott the ballot boxes on September 7 [i.e. the last 
Moroccan elections], and if nothing is done, the same scenario risks 
being reproduced in 2009 or 2012. But they are still the same people 
that were impassioned by the American presidential elections, and 
they are still the same, each in his own way, who supported Barack 
Obama.  Even if there is no need to compare the incomparable, let's 
dare offer some hypotheses. First of all, Moroccans clearly 
understood the stakes of the elections: to [elect] one man to head 
the first superpower of the world. Not all them understood the 
(complicated) system of American voting, but the ends were obvious 
to everybody.  In our country, we never know (with exactitude) what 
an election will bring us. Is the party that comes in first sure to 
govern? Nothing is less certain. And even if this happens, everybody 
or almost everyone is convinced that the power, the true one, is in 
the hands of the King. Many prefer to [abstain] as long as their 
vote has practically no political value. ... There is finally the 
capacity of the candidate to fulfill his electoral promises.  Obama 
promised a clean break, McCain a soft transition.  In patiently 
[waiting] for more than five hours in front of the voting bureaus, 
each American knew that the new host of the White House would, 
constitutionally at least, have the possibility to implement his 
program." 
 
Riley