VZCZCXRO8762
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHGI RUEHJS RUEHKUK RUEHLH
RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRB #0932/01 3291432
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251432Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0855
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 4767

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000932 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR G, G/IWI, NEA/MAG, NEA/PI AND DRL/NESCA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SOCI KWMN KDEM MO
SUBJECT: INTER-PARTY POLITICS LEAVES WOMEN BY THE WAYSIDE 
IN UPPER HOUSE ELECTIONS 
 
REF: A. RABAT 0517 
     ¶B. RABAT 0607 
     ¶C. RABAT 0858 
     ¶D. RABAT 0877 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Unlike the June communal elections in 
which, through the aid of a 12 percent quota, women won an 
unprecedented number of regional and city council seats, 
female candidates fared poorly in the successive rounds of 
indirect voting, including for parliament,s upper house 
election in October.  Political parties refused to support 
women candidates as they had in the communal elections, 
instead turning to horse trading and maneuvering to gain 
strategic positions.  Some female politicians attributed this 
lack of support to resentment over what their male colleagues 
believed to be an unfair advantage during the earlier 
elections.  Interparty rivalries and the fatigue of the 
women's movement following the local council elections also 
played a role.  The failure of parties to support more women 
illustrates that, despite ongoing reforms, women still have a 
long way to go to advance their participation in Morocco,s 
political processes.  The Mission will continue to support 
the newly elected women, through MEPI-funded leadership and 
management training, in order to ensure that those women who 
were elected have the tools they need to succeed.   End 
Summary. 
 
----------------------- 
Limited Gains for Women 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) In contrast to the communal (local council) elections 
in June, in which 12 percent of seats were reserved for women 
and a dozen women were elected to head local councils as 
mayors or mayor-equivalents, female candidates fared poorly 
in the successive rounds of indirect elections, for which 
there were no quotas.  Women gained only three additional 
seats in the indirect upper house election in October, 
bringing the total number of women in that chamber to six 
(two percent).  The government has not yet released 
information on the number of women elected indirectly to 
regional, provincial or national positions, but anecdotal 
information suggests that the numbers will not remotely 
represent the same kind of advances seen in the communal 
contests. 
 
----------------------------- 
Women Politicians Exasperated 
----------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Many female politicians had hoped that the large 
influx of elected women in local councils would pave the way 
for greater representation in the upper house.  Council 
members serve as "electors" in all subsequent rounds of 
indirect balloting -- including for the upper house -- and 
many had expected that the influx of 12 percent of women into 
those councils would translate into additional seats at 
higher levels.  However, this was not the case.  Khadija 
Rouissi, Chief of the Ethics Committee for the Party of 
Authenticity and Modernity (PAM), called the upper house 
election "catastrophic" for female politicians.  She and 
other politicians and activists unanimously blamed the 
political parties for failing to support their own female 
candidates.  During the local elections, for example, 20 
percent of the PAM candidates were women.  In contrast, 
during the election to the upper house, few parties supported 
women candidates for leadership positions. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Despite the fact that, according to the GOM, the 
newly elected women hold a higher average level of education 
than their male counterparts, the political parties did only 
"the bare minimum" in terms of providing support during the 
successive elections, USPF activist Fatima El Maghnaoui 
observed.  Anissa Naqrachi, a human rights activist and 
cousin of PAM founder Fouad Ali El Himma, said that the 
refusal of the parties to help their own female candidates 
indicated a backlash from many male party stalwarts.  "There 
was a lot of resistance" to further advancements by women, 
she said.  Naqrachi opined that some male politicians viewed 
the quota for female candidates in the June communal 
elections as an unfair advantage, even though the poor 
showing of female candidates in the successive elections had 
clearly demonstrated the need. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Interparty Jostling Triumphs over Ideology 
------------------------------------------ 
 
RABAT 00000932  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Other observers who were heavily involved in the 
communal elections explained that the parties returned to 
politics as usual once the stakes were higher and there was 
no longer a quota to fill.  In other words, parties were more 
focused on gaining strategic seats in regional councils and 
the upper house than standing for principle (see reftels). 
In the face of PAM's rising political prowess, most parties 
sought to maintain their influence in elected bodies. 
Another contributing factor may have been that the women's 
movement had exhausted all of its resources on the communal 
elections and had been disappointed when the number of women 
elected barely surpassed the 12 percent quota as they had 
anticipated. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The introduction of quotas for women in the 
communal elections and other reforms have dramatically 
increased women,s participation in electoral politics in 
Morocco.  However, the poor showing of women in subsequent 
rounds of indirect balloting illustrates that they still have 
a long way to go.  Much resistance remains to female 
leadership, both within the political parties and among the 
society at large.  The Mission will continue to support the 
newly elected women, through Middle East Partnership 
Initiative- (MEPI-)funded leadership and management training, 
in order to ensure that those women who were elected are able 
to better develop the tools they need to expand their 
political participation.  End Comment. 
 
 
***************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Moro cco 
***************************************** 
 
JACKSON