VZCZCXRO4516
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHGI RUEHJS RUEHKUK RUEHLH
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRB #0485/01 1601810
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091810Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0244
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 000485 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR G, G/IWI, NEA/MAG, NEA/PI AND DRL/NESCA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KWMN KISL KDEM SOCI MO
SUBJECT: 20,000 MUSLIM WOMEN RUNNING FOR ELECTION IN MOROCCO 
 
REF: RABAT 0473 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The June 12th municipal elections will be 
a landmark in women's participation in Moroccan political 
life, and the effects of the government's decision to reserve 
seats for female candidates are already being felt in 
society.  An astounding 20,000 women are poised to run in the 
elections, likely rocketing the share of female elected 
officials above 12 percent of the total (from its current 0.5 
percent).  Women's places on party tickets (like their male 
counterparts,) are brokered in backroom deals, but some 
women are fighting this.  Reftel describes the high-impact, 
short-term USG program that trained some 4,000 women 
candidates around the country.  This message conveys the 
reactions of women candidates and looks at some of the 
effects of their entry into Moroccan politics.  The major 
increase in women's political participation at the local 
level comes at a time when the Government has announced plans 
to decentralize authority, putting more power than ever in 
the hands of those elected this June.  This appears to 
reflect the Palace's belief that the advancement of women's 
rights represents "the cornerstone" of Morocco's strategy of 
building a modern democratic society.  End Summary. 
 
---------- 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In December 2008, the Government of Morocco (GOM) 
announced that 12 percent of seats in the June municipal 
elections would be reserved for women, who now hold less than 
0.5 percent of elected municipal positions.  The move will 
dramatically increase the presence of women in town and city 
councils, overseeing local services such as water, 
electricity, sanitation, public transportation and economic 
development.  Communal elections also serve as the first step 
in a chain of indirect elections that fill successively 
higher seats of government, ultimately leading to seats in 
Parliament's upper house. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Hassan Aghmari, Director of Elections at the 
Ministry of Interior (MOI), announced on June 1 that over 
20,000 women have registered as candidates in the upcoming 
communal elections.  One-fourth of those women will run on 
general party lists while the rest will run on the dedicated 
women's list.  Although youth in Morocco have generally 
soured on voting and elections in general, more than half of 
the women currently running are under the age of 35.  A 
majority of the female candidates also have secondary or 
higher education degrees, according to the GOM. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Political Parties Seek Qualified, Electable Women 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) This sudden opportunity to pick up additional 
seats, and thus greater influence, has caused a feeding 
frenzy among Morocco's numerous political parties, as each 
seeks to recruit the most electable women to run on their 
lists.  During training sessions by the International 
Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute aimed 
at teaching first-time female candidates how to run and win a 
campaign (Reftel), trainers reported "headhunters" appearing 
at gatherings of rival parties attempting to coax women 
candidates to their party's list.  One female embassy contact 
reported offers from four different political parties to run 
as a candidate.  Asked whether she had accepted any of the 
offers, she said she had declined all of them because the 
increased encouragement for women in politics has inspired 
her to skip the municipal elections and run for Parliament in 
¶2012. 
 
-------------------- 
Not Just Decorations 
-------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Fatima El Maghnaoui, a long-time activist with the 
Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), who is running for 
office for the first time, illustrated the continuing 
challenges for women, despite the current initiatives. 
Lambasting the "patriarchal mentality" of the political 
parties, she explained that the parties are trying to keep 
women on the women's lists so that the men can protect their 
own seats by placing themselves at the head of the party 
lists.  El Maghnaoui described the questionable deals 
regarding placement on the party lists brokered by party 
leaders (who are men) in bars or in the men's room, without 
the input of the women candidates.  "As if we could, or 
would, go to either of these places!" she scoffed. 
 
RABAT 00000485  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) She and other women candidates launched a campaign 
of lobbying their own political parties to create a more open 
and objective system for determining placement on the party 
lists.  "If they do allow us to get onto the party list, they 
give us meaningless positions on the bottom," reducing the 
likelihood of winning a seat.  In that case, "we are nothing 
more than decorations," she observed. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Fatiha Saddas, another candidate with the USFP, 
noted that many women who had originally intended to run 
retracted their candidacies at the last minute.  She said 
that women candidates were finding it too difficult to have a 
job, run a household and be politically active.  "Political 
party meetings are held after working hours," she explained, 
noting that although she has a progressive husband, "when I 
come home late, my husband starts complaining."  In Morocco, 
a man does not have the same kind of pressure because he is 
not expected to take care of the home in addition to his 
other activities, she stated. 
 
------------------- 
Playing Hard to Get 
------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Despite the challenges, as parties get more 
desperate for qualified, electable women to run on their 
tickets, female candidates find themselves the object of 
attention of numerous political parties.  This high demand 
has increased their bargaining position and allowed them to 
win greater concessions.  For example, despite the 
availability of a dedicated women's list, many women have 
used this opportunity to lobby hard for a top position on the 
party lists instead.  Election off the party list is a way to 
demonstrate political clout, and refutes the idea that women 
were elected only because they had their own list and not on 
their own merits.  Women candidates have successfully earned 
spots on party lists by threatening to defect to another 
party, and take other women with them.  As party loyalty is 
non-existent in Morocco, with voters supporting individuals 
rather than parties, this has been a particularly effective 
strategy. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Fatima El Maghnaoui, who had earlier chastised her 
own party for not supporting women, told PolOff on May 28 
that the lobbying had paid off.  She now holds the number two 
spot on the national USFP party list.  In addition to the 
USFP, the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), Party of 
Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) and the Popular Movement 
(MP) have all given women top spots on their party lists in 
some districts.  A woman heads the Party of Justice and 
Development (PJD) list in Tangier where the PJD is running a 
highly organized, targeted campaign to attract women 
candidates and subsequently votes.  The presence of women on 
both sets of lists could ensure that even more than 12 
percent of those elected in June are women, an outcome 
predicted by both the National Democratic Institute and the 
International Republican Institute. 
 
-------------- 
Why It Matters 
-------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The decision to dramatically increase the number 
of women in local governance comes at a time when the central 
government is actively trying to devolve responsibilities to 
the communal and city levels.  According to Rachid Rguibi, 
Governor in Charge of International Cooperation at the MOI, 
decentralization is a major objective of the Palace.  "We 
want to give the regions enough power to function 
independently," he said, although the MOI also wants the 
authority of its own local cadre to grow.  Involving more 
women in local governance at this time appears to reflect the 
GOM's belief, at the highest levels, that women must be 
active participants in Morocco's modernization and political 
evolution. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The social and political implications of this 
election are significant.  After June 12, at least 12 percent 
of Morocco's local leadership will be female.  Indications 
are that the actual number could be slightly higher than 
this.  Female elected officials will no longer be rare 
curiosities in Moroccan politics but will be part of the 
political establishment from the ministerial level to the 
smallest communal council.  More importantly, the active 
 
RABAT 00000485  003 OF 003 
 
 
encouragement of women's participation has mobilized a 
population of younger, educated women candidates to play a 
role in the management of local affairs, a hopeful start in 
reversing the jaded disenchantment with electoral politics 
that had been gaining in recent years.  End Comment. 
 
 
***************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Moro cco 
***************************************** 
 
Jackson