VZCZCXYZ0013
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0087/01 0341812
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031812Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1156
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 0073

UNCLAS RABAT 000087 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG AND INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ECON MO
SUBJECT: MOROCCO: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MINISTER OF 
STATE LAENSER 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The Ambassador met Minister of State 
Laenser, the Secretary General of the Popular Movement Party 
(MP), on January 25.  Laenser discussed the need for the 
King's entourage to devolve powers to the Parliament and the 
problem of a saturated political environment with too many 
parties and no party discipline.  He maintained that the 
Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) had no real 
political platform.  However, he conceded that the MP 
probably would align with the PAM in the 2012 parliamentary 
elections, as it had in the 2009 local council elections. 
His position on having three main political blocs in Moroccan 
politics is a familiar one that Moroccan political pundits 
suggest is the goal behind the creation of the PAM.  The MP 
by default -- and not because of common ideology or shared 
programs -- seems to fall into the PAM bloc.  On economic 
issues, he portrayed himself as pro-free market and discussed 
the challenges to reducing unemployment.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Ambassador Kaplan met with Minister of State Mohand 
Laenser, one of two Ministers of State without portfolio, on 
January 25 in an introductory call.  Laenser, who is also the 
Secretary General of the Popular Movement (MP), a political 
party that has traditionally supported Berber interests, 
thanked the Ambassador for strong U.S. support to Morocco. 
He stated that as a minister holding various portfolios for 
over 17 years, he had had the privilege and honor to 
experience directly the close relationship between the two 
countries.  In friendly and honest discussions, Laenser 
appeared to give his sincere opinions on political and 
economic issues in Morocco. 
 
---------------------------- 
The Political System is Sick 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Responding to the Ambassador,s question about the 
political party system in Morocco, Laenser discussed the 
major problems, from his point of view, facing the system. 
He first clarified that -- unlike other parties -- the 
Popular Movement felt that constitutional change was not 
necessary; instead, there was a problem with the application 
of the Constitution.  The "cement" that the King brings to a 
tribal society and the strength of his role in the country 
were essential.  The role that his entourage played, however, 
should go to the Prime Minister and Parliament. 
 
¶4.  (U) Laenser opined that the political parties and 
Parliament were "sick."  First, having a governing coalition 
of five parties, as currently in Morocco, was unwieldy.  When 
the Ambassador asked whether a two-party system like in the 
U.S. would suit Morocco better, Laenser replied that he 
envisioned three blocs:  leftists, conservatives (PJD and 
Istiqlal), and centrists.  Governing coalitions needed to be 
made up of two to three parties at most.  The next major 
challenge was a lack of political maturity among parties.  He 
cited that many Members of Parliament, after their election, 
only attended the opening session of Parliament that the King 
inaugurates.  He also discussed imposing rules on party 
members to bring higher standards to political life, such as 
limiting when members can change parties or punishing 
absenteeism.  He explained that in Belgium and Turkey, for 
example, when a Member of Parliament wants to switch parties, 
he must run again for election because he was switching the 
platform on which he originally was elected.  He also 
lamented that elections were personal rather than party 
affairs.  In other words, a candidate for election that was 
not chosen by one party could just switch to another and 
still win the election because of his personal popularity. 
Laenser argued that reform of the political system could not 
wait until other challenges such as poverty and illiteracy 
were addressed but that there must be parallel reform 
efforts. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Nothing New in the Party of Authenticity and Modernity 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In the context of political system reform and the 
role of political parties, Laenser brought up the Party of 
Authenticity and Modernity, claiming that it had no real 
platform besides modernity, which "everyone agrees on."  He 
opined that the PAM stated its intention to bring in new 
political elites but in the June election, it formed 
alliances with existing ones.  The MP, however, has "no 
problem with the PAM in principle."  As for working with the 
PAM, Laenser stated that the MP had already aligned with the 
PAM in the 2009 elections and was likely to repeat this 
practice in the 2012 parliamentary elections. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Free Trade Beneficial But Unemployment Difficult 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6.  (U) Laenser also brought up economic reform and 
challenges facing Morocco on several occasions.  He claimed 
that he and the MP have consistently supported free market 
policies, even going against many dissenting voices on the 
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S.  He stated that his 
position has now been justified by the increase in exports 
and would continue to be justified by the FTA,s long-term 
benefits.  He gave another example from when he was Minister 
of Agriculture and supported -- again, in the face of much 
opposition -- the opening of public agricultural lands to 
sale to the private sector.  The Government had a role as 
regulator of the market and in creating standards but not in 
interfering in the economy, he explained. 
 
¶7.  (U) When the Ambassador asked about unemployment, Laenser 
replied that unemployment was not limited to youth who have 
university degrees and cannot find employment but extended to 
those in rural areas, those in inner cities and middle-aged 
Moroccans.  There were some solutions for unemployed youth, 
such as credits for hiring youth for projects or to open 
businesses, or helping young people obtain jobs in companies 
through temporary exemptions from taxes or social charges. 
Overall, the biggest contributing factor to unemployment was 
the education system, which was neither adequate nor did it 
correspond to supply and demand in the Moroccan economy.  He 
explained that often a job was available but the right 
candidate was not.  To fix this, he suggested, for example, 
that a student who did not succeed in school should go into 
vocational training rather than remaining unemployed. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Laenser appeared to give his unvarnished opinion of 
the political and economic situations in Morocco to the 
Ambassador -- even going so far as to state that the king's 
entourage should delegate power to Parliament.  That said, 
the MP has managed for decades to represent Berber interests 
without running afoul of Moroccan laws that explicitly 
prohibit parties from organizing along ethnic lines -- and 
one of the keys to that long-running success has been the 
MP,s devotion to the monarchy.  His stance on creating three 
major political blocs is an opinion expressed by many 
political analysts here, who suggest that this is exactly 
what the Makhzen, i.e., the country,s political and economic 
elite, is trying to force with the formation of the PAM.  End 
Comment. 
 
 
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Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Moro cco 
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KAPLAN