VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0026/01 0151130
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151130Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1050
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS RABAT 000026 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG AND INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO: THE KING RESHUFFLES THE CABINET 
 
REF: 09 RABAT 0858 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  King Mohammed VI appointed on 
January 4 five government ministers, a mere 24 hours 
after he had addressed the nation to announce the 
creation of an Advisory Committee for 
Regionalization tasked with accelerating the GOM's 
plan to devolve power to the regions.  The new 
ministers are:  Minister of Interior Taieb 
Cherkaoui, Minister of Justice Mohamed Naciri, 
Minister of Tourism Yassir Zenagui, Minister in 
Charge of Relations with the Parliament Driss 
Lachgar, and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister 
in Charge of Modernizing Public Sectors Mohamed Saad 
Alami.  The changes at Interior and Justice are 
significant and will potentially impact major 
Moroccan initiatives including regionalization, 
judicial reform and Western Sahara policy.  The 
other changes are less significant for U.S. policy 
but fraught with political intrigue.  Furthermore, 
the way in which the King imposed the changes on a 
weak government does not necessarily represent a 
step forward in the democratization process.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------- 
Two Shake-Ups in Two Days 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) King Mohammed addressed the nation on 
January 3 to announce the creation of the Advisory 
Committee for Regionalization, calling for more 
government power to be devolved to the regions. 
This GOM initiative, which the King originally 
proposed more than two years ago, is deeply linked 
to the Moroccan autonomy plan for resolving the 
Western Sahara conflict.  The regionalization 
initiative, and the King's naming now of a 22-member 
committee to jump start the process, represent a 
clear acknowledgement by the GOM that its autonomy 
plan can only be considered a workable solution if 
political power, which is currently highly 
centralized in Rabat, is devolved (Septel).  Rumors 
had abounded for months that a GOM cabinet shuffle 
was imminent, and many observers were surprised that 
the King did not also announce ministerial changes 
in his January 3 speech.  However, palace sources 
say that on January 3, after the King's speech, 
Royal Advisor Mohamed Moatassim privately informed 
the political leaders of the upcoming government 
reshuffle.  And on January 4, those changes became 
public. 
 
--------------------- 
Big Change at the MOJ 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Moatassim first notified Socialist Union 
of Popular Forces (USFP) Secretary General and 
Minister of Justice Abdelwahed Radi that the King 
had consented to his year-old request to leave the 
Justice Ministry to devote his efforts to reforming 
the USFP.  Radi was never an ideal fit at MOJ.  The 
King had given him the daunting task of implementing 
a sweeping judicial reform, but Radi had no legal 
background.  Radi's ministry recently submitted 17 
reform initiatives to Parliament, but the larger 
task of devising a plan for judicial reform will 
fall to his successor.  In addition, political 
parties have controlled the Justice Ministry since 
1993 -- an arrangement with which the Palace has 
never been fully comfortable.  Some view Radi's 
departure as a step toward returning the MOJ to its 
status as a "sovereign ministry," i.e., a ministry 
like Defense, Foreign Affairs, Interior and Islamic 
Affairs that is not assigned to the parties in 
government but, rather, reports directly to the 
King. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) As Radi's replacement, the King appointed 
Mohamed Naciri, currently a partner at Morocco's 
most prestigious law firm.  Naciri has no party 
affiliation, and his nomination may well be a 
further signal that the Justice Minister is 
returning -- officially or unofficially -- to being 
a sovereign ministry.  Naciri has formidable ties to 
the palace.  A former Chairman of the Casablanca Bar 
Council and member of the Constitutional Court from 
1993-1999, Naciri has served repeatedly as counsel 
for the monarchy, for several ministries and -- 
perhaps most importantly -- for Sigar, the holding 
company that manages the lion's share of the royal 
family's extensive investments.  More than simply a 
technocrat, Naciri is renowned for his 
regionalization expertise and is deeply trusted by 
the King and his inner circle. 
 
--------------- 
The New Top Cop 
--------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The other major shake-up, in addition to 
the MOJ, comes at the Ministry of the Interior 
(MOI), where the King tapped eminent jurist Taieb 
Cherkaoui to succeed technocrat Chakib Benmoussa as 
Minister.  Media pundits and anti-Sahrawi 
independence activists were quick to characterize 
Benmoussa's removal as a sanction in the wake of his 
mishandling of the Aminatou Haidar case.  Political 
parties, on the other hand, cited his ministry's 
frequent legal and procedural spats with the 
powerful pro-Palace Party of Authenticity and 
Modernity (PAM) following the 2009 communal 
elections as a possible reason for his removal. 
However, Benmoussa's supporters say he will land on 
his feet, and rumors already abound that he is 
poised to become either a special advisor to the 
King or, perhaps ironically, CEO of Siger. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Cherkaoui's replacement spent his career 
in the Ministry of Justice until he was nominated in 
2008 to be President of the Supreme Court.  Like 
Naciri, he has strong ties to the Palace, holding at 
one time the influential position of Director of 
Royal Pardons.  With his professional background, 
Cherkaoui is expected to reinforce a serious 
partnership between the MOI and the MOJ for the 
King's regionalization plan, with the MOI 
maintaining principal oversight of the process. 
Interestingly, in handing Morocco's most powerful 
ministry to Cherkaoui -- the MOI not only controls 
Morocco's law enforcement and security apparatus, 
but also controls the budget of every Moroccan 
region and city -- King Mohammed VI also retained 
the MOI's very powerful Secretary of State (Deputy 
Minister), Saad Hassar. 
 
------------------------ 
Co-opting the Opposition 
------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) While the King replaced ministers at two 
heavyweight ministries -- Justice and Interior -- 
with palace-friendly technocrats, his other changes 
were more political.  After removing Radi from the 
MOJ, the King awarded his party, the USFP, with the 
Ministry in Charge of Relations with Parliament 
(MRP), previously held by rightist Istiqlal Party 
Minister Saad Alami, who became Minister-Delegate 
Charged with Modernizing the Public Sector. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) However, it was not the consolation prize 
that stunned observers, but rather the choice of 
USFP MP Driss Lachgar as Minister in Charge of 
Relations with Parliament.  Lachgar, a political 
opportunist who had long been angling for a 
ministerial post, had become a major nuisance -- 
some would say threat -- to his party, the 
Government and the Palace, thanks to his incessant 
calls for the USFP to abandon the governing 
coalition and form an alliance in opposition with 
the Islamist Party for Justice and Development 
(PJD).  The Palace has made no secret in recent 
months of its effort to isolate the PJD -- an effort 
spearheaded by the pro-Palace PAM (reftels).  By 
naming Lachgar as the very minister charged with 
arguing the government's positions to the 
opposition, the King and the USFP clearly colluded 
to neutralize the growing interest within Lachgar's 
wing of the USFP in a coalition with the PJD, and to 
further isolate the PJD. 
 
------------------------------ 
Kicking the RNI When It's Down 
------------------------------ 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Although the final changes came at two 
minor ministries -- Tourism and Public Sector 
Modernization (PSM) -- they were also fraught with 
political consequences.  In both cases, senior party 
officials from the National Rally of Independents 
(RNI) lost cabinet seats, a further blow to a party 
that appears to be self-destructing.  For months, a 
bitter feud within the RNI has dominated Moroccan 
political headlines, pitting the old guard, 
represented by party Secretary General and President 
of the Chamber of Deputies (parliament's lower 
house) Mustapha Mansouri against a reformist wing 
led by RNI Minister of Economy and Finance 
Salahedine Mezouar.  The Moroccan monarchy has a 
long-stated policy of avoiding involvement in 
political parties' internal problems, but few 
observers doubt that the RNI's internal problems 
cost them two ministers in this reshuffle, leaving 
them with only four cabinet posts.  At Tourism, the 
King sacked Mohamed Bousaid, one of Mezouar's 
reformists, and replaced him with Yassir Znagui, an 
RNI member but utter political unknown.  And at PSM, 
the RNI lost its post altogether, with Istliqlali 
Saad Alami replacing Mohamed Abbou of the RNI's old 
guard. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The changes at Interior and Justice are 
significant, and they could have an impact on major 
Moroccan initiatives that are of interest to the 
USG.  For example, if the GOM is truly serious about 
judicial reform, Naciri will prove, as Justice 
Minister, well-positioned and clearly capable of 
making it happen.  Likewise, the MOI under Cherkaoui 
should be poised implement a meaningful 
regionalization -- without which, Morocco's autonomy 
plan for the Western Sahara is simply hollow.  On 
the other hand, if the Palace really does not intend 
to implement these programs, the ministers are 
equally well placed to keep anything from happening. 
More widely, the other changes are less significant 
for U.S. policy but fraught with political intrigue. 
And the way in which the King imposed the changes on 
a weak government do not necessarily represent a 
step forward in the democratization process.  End 
Comment. 
 
KAPLAN