Local Politics : What are Morocco's main problems?

[AceOfSpades]

..... Et Merde !

[Xenos Krypton]

Il en est où le gouvernement?

[Mister79]

Benikrane a couple months ago about El Himma etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lssSQ...ayer_embedded#!

[Mister79]

El Himma as advisor means that the battle against the PJD and Febraury 20 will continue..

El Himma as royal advisor: " You are not hallucinating , this is Morocco"

Fouad Ali El Himma is back! the criticized " friend of the king" and the founder of the Party authenticity modernity (WFP) was named advisor by Mohammed VI. A big surprise, that is interpreted different in in the political community, and on the social networks, people are mostly disappointed and incensed . Fouad Ali El Himma return in the royal scene shows that the people who said that El Himma was "' politically dead" had it wrong . El Himma moved back in the nerve centre of power in Morocco: The palace.
Mohamed Moujahid of the PSU isn't surprised by this nomination: " Hallucinating" is not needed; , " It is not paradoxical, this is the Moroccan reality, continues the general secretary of the PSU which had boycotted the referendum and the elections. El Himma always played a big role within the apparatus of State, he was in the shadow, now (the king) makes it official".

El Himma conseiller royal : "Il ne faut pas halluciner, c’est le Maroc"

07 Décembre 2011 22:48

Fouad Ali El Himma est de retour ! Le très critiqué "ami du roi" et non moins fondateur du Parti authenticité modernité (PAM) a été nommé conseiller par Mohammed VI. Un geste très surprenant, diversement interprété dans la classe politique. Sur les réseaux sociaux, c’est surtout l’indignation et la déception qui prédominent.

Fouad Ali El Himma retourne dans le sérail royal. Le roi Mohammed VI l’a choisi comme conseiller, démentant du coup tous ceux qui donnaient "l’ami du roi" politiquement mort. El Himma a reculé (en démissionnant des structures dirigeantes du PAM), pour mieux sauter et atterrir de nouveau dans le centre névralgique du pouvoir au Maroc : le Palais. Sa nomination surprise ce mercredi 7 décembre 2011, a délié bien des langues.

Pour Mustapha Ramid du PJD, "il y avait deux choix : soit El Himma reste dans l’arène politique en n’étant pas l’ami du roi ou qu’il rejoigne son ami le roi en s’écartant de la politique". Du moment que la deuxième option a été privilégiée, ce membre du Secrétariat national de la formation du nouveau chef du gouvernement est catégorique : "qu’il ne continue plus de soutenir ou de favoriser le PAM. S’il est conseiller royal, qu’il s’éloigne du PAM. Ce sera mieux pour lui et pour le pays". Mustapha Ramid, que beaucoup attendent au ministère de la Justice refuse d’interpréter le "message du Palais" mais insiste sur la bonne "entente" entre le roi et le futur gouvernement, sinon avertit-il : "la cohabitation n’ira pas loin".

Le politologue Mohamed Darif voit pour sa part "deux messages" que le roi a voulu véhiculer à travers sa décision : "Rupture de tout lien d’El Himma avec le PAM" et "réhabilitation" de ce camarade de classe, objet des critiques du Mouvement du 20 février et du PJD. "Le Palais, insiste Darif, veut montrer qu’il a ses critères à lui pour choisir les personnalités".

Le tonitruant Mohamed Moujahid du PSU lui n’est guère surpris ni étonné par cette nomination : "Il ne faut pas halluciner", rétorque-t-il ironiquement. "Ce n’est pas paradoxal, cela va avec la réalité marocaine, poursuit le secrétaire général du PSU qui avait boycotté le référendum et les législatives. El Himma a toujours joué un rôle important au sein de l’appareil d’Etat. Il était dans l’ombre, à présent il (le roi) l’officialise". Pour Moujahid, il faut s’éloigner des "enjeux de personnes [car] c’est un problème de système. C’est ce dernier qui doit changer", continue-t-il de crier.

Lire la suite sur yabiladi.com


http://panoramaroc.ma/fr/index.php/w...cest-le-marocq

[Mister79]

For the people here who deny this problems and act if nothing is wrong in Morocco, read this article from the Washington Post.....

It is shocking......

Morocco’s justice system, plagued by corruption, sees hope of reform in Islamist victory

Thursday, December 8, 12:53 PM

RABAT, Morocco — The chant thundered through the headquarters of Morocco’s Islamist party as it celebrated election victory.

“The people want reform of the justice system!” the crowd roared.

The Islamist Justice and Development Party won the right to head Morocco’s next government in the Nov. 25 elections and one of its main campaign promises is battling corruption and creating a truly independent judiciary.



Sitting on the podium with party leaders was Jaafar Hassoun, a former judge who says he was disbarred and hounded after he refused to give the regime the verdicts it wanted.

Justice is one of the most sensitive issues in this tourist-friendly North African country of 32 million, where there is widespread distrust of a court system that most Moroccans believe serves the highest bidder. “Justice” can be bought in civil trials for just $5,000. In sensitive trials against terror suspects or feisty journalists, a call from a powerful official is enough to seal a guilty verdict.

The Islamist Justice and Development Party won the right to head Morocco’s next government in the Nov. 25 elections and one of its main campaign promises is battling corruption and creating a truly independent judiciary.

Though the party describes itself as having an Islamic orientation, PJD has always been very moderate on the role of religion in society and has no plans to replace Morocco’s civil law codes with strict religious law courts.

Morocco’s courts have historically been weak and under the control of the king and his Justice Ministry, which determines judges’ salaries and appointments so that they will often rule as instructed for the sake of their careers.

Beyond human rights, observers say Morocco needs a justice system that foreign investors can trust so this Western-friendly nation can grow economically.

“The judicial system’s lack of independence and the corresponding lack of public confidence are impediments to the country’s development and reform efforts,” noted a U.S. embassy cable in 2009, shortly after the king made a speech promising new judicial reforms.

Even as the king was talking about the need for more judiciary independence, Hassoun, at the time a judge on the Supreme Council of Magistrates, was losing his job.

He told The Associated Press that his troubles began in 2003, when he initiated a petition signed by 1,700 judges denouncing the arrest and humiliating treatment of a group of judges during an anti-drug campaign in the north in 2003, leading to a four-month suspension for Hassoun.

Then in 2009, while working as a judge in the city of Marrakech, he had to rule on the decision by another court to cancel a pro-government candidate’s win in local elections because of blatant fraud. He said authorities pressured him to overturn the decision, but he upheld it, earning further official ire.

The next year he was blamed for a newspaper’s leak of the highly confidential next round of judicial appointments. He denied leaking the information and the newspaper denied he was involved. But he was disbarred in a trial in which he said no evidence was presented.

When he then tried to start a law practice, the king’s prosecutor blocked him from joining the local bar association. His attempt to run in elections last month was also stymied when the mayor of his city rejected his candidacy.

“These are personal vendettas and the worst thing is that they are being pursued with state resources,” said Hassoun, who is now working with the PJD and may yet get a chance to reform the system that once went after him.

Morocco’s constitution was amended on July 1 to strengthen the judiciary, making it finally a branch of its own on par with the legislative and executive and no longer under the direct authority of the Justice Ministry. But its High Council of Judicial Power will still be chaired by the king.


Past attempts to bolster the judiciary produced few results. And the European Union dramatically scaled back aid programs for Moroccan justice reform last year.

“We do not see the real objectives, which makes it difficult for the European Union to identify and allocate funds to support a reform,” wrote the EU ambassador to Morocco, Emeko Landaburu, in an article that appeared in June.

Even Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri acknowledged “phone call justice” exists, in a speech before the Brookings Institute in March.

Judicial independence “is not the reality today, because (there are) some calls from time to time, from the Justice Department to some judge. But now we want to assure this total independence,” he said.

To make matters worse, Morocco’s 3,000 judges are inundated by cases they say they barely have time to handle. In 2007 there were 2.57 million new cases filed and 3.25 million ongoing, according to a 2010 USAID report on the rule of law in Morocco.

Judges are often poorly trained and badly paid. Worse, they see it as their job to help to police, said Rachid Filali Meknassi, the Moroccan representative for global anti-corruption group Transparency International.

“In the face of the police, the judges are scared, in the face of politics, the judges are scared, but when they have power, they sell it,” he said.

Trials for political activists or journalists who criticize the regime move swiftly with no defense motions granted — and almost always end with convictions.

“It is a problem that really becomes obvious when there are political trials, such as when there are trials against independent journalists and also those involving terrorism. They are directed,” said Abdelaziz Nouaydi who runs the Adala (justice) Association dedicated to an independent judiciary. As a lawyer he has defended everyone from journalists to former Guantanamo detainees.

Terrorism trials follow a predictable script, such as the recent case of nine suspects in the April bombing of a cafe popular with tourists in Marrakech that killed 17 people, mostly foreigners.

Defense lawyers asked to depose witnesses, call their own experts and sought several other motions — all denied by the judge. The trial, in which all were found guilty, consisted of little more than restating the police’s case, which relied on confessions the defendants maintained were coerced.

“The justice system in Morocco is a means to legitimize the repression of the political opposition,” concluded a report authored by Adala for the EU.

For the anti-corruption platform of Morocco’s newly elected Islamist party to succeed, it will need a coherent strategy to create a strong, independent judiciary.

At the same time, the party is confronted by a system of corruption that reaches the highest levels and has long profited from a weak judiciary.

But talk from the king about court reform is a good sign, some experts say.

“Rhetoric should not be underestimated,” said Norman Greene, an attorney working on global rule of law issues. “Rhetoric often comes before action.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...WeO_story.html

[bleedwell]

Je n'ai jamais dit que le justice est indépendante au Maroc, tu me diffame Mister79... je suis en droit de te poursuivre, je suis sur que la nouvelle justice te condamnera même si tu make some calls...

[Mister79]

Moroccan king taps Islamists' bete noire as adviser

Wed Dec 7, 2011 5:40pm GMT




* King appoints confidant as adviser

* Himma decried both by moderate Islamists and street opposition

* King's advisers traditionally the core of influential elite

By Souhail Karam

RABAT, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Morocco's King Mohammed on Wednesday appointed Fouad Ali el-Himma, a figure of suspicion and hatred to the new Islamist governing party and to protesters who have thronged the streets this year, as a royal adviser.

Himma is widely seen as a pillar of the Makhzen, a secretive court elite that has often kept the upper hand over the ballot box by naming government officials and setting key policies. It has been one of the main targets of a Moroccan movement for change inspired by revolts across the Arab world.

In particular, his job since 2007 has been to counter the rising influence of the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), which last month won an election that the king had brought forward by almost a year to prevent a spillover of Arab Spring uprisings.

The royal cabinet said in a statement that Himma's appointment was based on "experience he gained in carrying out duties he has been entrusted with".

Himma became secretary of state at the Interior Ministry in 1999 and then deputy interior minister from 2002 to 2007.

He then launched the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) in an attempt to challenge the rise of the PJD. Himma quit the PAM in May as pro-democracy protests grew.

PJD head Abdelilah Benkirane is now forming a cabinet, paving the way for Islamists to participate in government in Morocco for the first time.

Benkirane has repeatedly urged King Mohammed to rein in Himma, whose stint at the interior ministry brought intense pressure on the PJD in the wake of suicide attacks in 2003, blamed on radical Islamists, that killed 45 people in Casablanca.

He has accused Himma of using his close relationship with the king to coerce government officials, judges and even security officials to thwart the PJD in its quest for power.

Constitutional changes drafted by the palace and approved in a referendum last July have raised hopes of change as they widen the powers of elected officials, although the monarch retains a key say over strategic issues.

Himma, 49, will join a team of fresh faces recently appointed by the monarch as advisers. These include outgoing tourism minister Yassir Znagui, former justice minister Omar Azziman and former interior minister Mustapha al-Sahel.

A PJD spokesperson declined to comment on Himma's appointment.

A Rabat-based Western diplomat said Himma's appointment as royal adviser "may end opacity surrounding his exact role".

"Himma's appointment is not really a game-breaker ... He is not, however, the least controversial of figures gravitating around the palace, so there may be a backlash, more from the street than the PJD.

"What will cause a bigger fuss is if Benkirane's effort to form a government collides with an insistence from the (royal) court to keep sovereign ministerial portfolios," said the diplomat. The heads of the justice, interior, defence and foreign ministries have traditionally been named by the king. (Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by Kevin Liffey)


http://af.reuters.com/article/morocc...7N73OZ20111207

http://af.reuters.com/article/morocc...7N73OZ20111207

[dakhla]

Originally Posted by Sniperman

j'ai une petite question concernant la nouvelle constitution :
qui a le droit d'appeler à une réforme constitutionnelle ?

les 2/3 du parlement ou le Roi, mais je crois qu'il faut un referundum.

[dakhla]

Originally Posted by Zolozai

c'est pas la faute des familles fassis si les autres sont trop cons pour faire quelque chose de leurs vies, ton message 3amer bel jahl wtakhalouf

merci pour le compliment. j'ai cru que le debat a ete ouvert pour tous le monde et tous les marocains mais je vois que les jahala et motakhalifoune n'ont pas le droit de donner leur avis.

[dexter159]

Originally Posted by Mister79

For the people here who deny this problems and act if nothing is wrong in Morocco, read this article from the Washington Post.....

It is shocking......

shocking ? no sir its not shocking , we all know how it is since we live here .... just hope Arramid gets the justice ministry , some law suits get filled and takes 20 years to get a verdict

[Mister79]

Originally Posted by dexter159

shocking ? no sir its not shocking , we all know how it is since we live here .... just hope Arramid gets the justice ministry , some law suits get filled and takes 20 years to get a verdict

You can't change the judicial system in Morocco, because the king is head of the judicial system according to the new constitution.

If Morocco had an independent judicial system people like El Himma should be now in prison and not a rapper like Mouad..

[dexter159]

Originally Posted by Mister79

You can't change the judicial system in Morocco, because the king is head of the judicial system according to the new constitution.

If Morocco had an independent judicial system people like El Himma should be now in prison and not a rapper like Mouad..

The usual short cut makhzenland blabla , your avg Mohamed dont even care about political law suites , he doesnt even know who's your rapper or even al himma !

The judicial system is plugged by bureaucracy and people not doing actually their jobs , next time go to a court at 8h-9h and check if there is judge around , you'll find none , it took me 1 week to get some random paper from there, on the other had it takes me 10-20min to get a birth certificate or any copy or any document from the nearby administration , it used to be a day or even more. Things change and it is the ministry of interior the most makhzanian ministry , but the residence certificate you can get it the same day or takes a week , just about the the luck to get that m9dem in his office ... its just because someone no doing his job properly .

[Sniperman]

Originally Posted by dakhla

les 2/3 du parlement ou le Roi, mais je crois qu'il faut un referundum.

donc si un jour on a la majorité du parlement est de la gauche on peut rêver d'une reforme pour avoir une monarchie parlementaire , n'est ce pas ??

[Mister79]

Originally Posted by dexter159

The usual short cut makhzenland blabla , your avg Mohamed dont even care about political law suites , he doesnt even know who's your rapper or even al himma !

The judicial system is plugged by bureaucracy and people not doing actually their jobs , next time go to a court at 8h-9h and check if there is judge around , you'll find none , it took me 1 week to get some random paper from there, on the other had it takes me 10-20min to get a birth certificate or any copy or any document from the nearby administration , it used to be a day or even more. Things change and it is the ministry of interior the most makhzanian ministry , but the residence certificate you can get it the same day or takes a week , just about the the luck to get that m9dem in his office ... its just because someone no doing his job properly .

Who has always been the head of the judicial system?
So if Mo6 doesn't care why do people send letters to him if they have judicial problems? He is they one who appoints the judges, gives amnesty etc
If in a company people don't do their jobs, their is bureacracy etc. The boss is responsible..


If you want a good independent judicial system you should create an independent commission of respected judges who will lead the judicial system and monitor this. They should get the power to fire judges, fight bureaucracy, if their is something wrong during a case, they should call for a new case etc

[Mister79]

07 Dec 2011

Popular Movement to join Morocco government


2011-12-07 Morocco's Popular Movement (MP) agreed "in principle" late Tuesday (December 6th) to join the government now being created by the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), which won the November 25th elections. The decision was approved by the party's political bureau. The MP won 32 seats in parliament in the early general elections.

The Istiqlal party of outgoing PM Abbas El Fassi, which got 60 seats, has already agreed to become part of the new government. If the coalition agreement is confirmed, the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party would be able to proceed with official government formation on the back of a majority with 199 of the 395 parliamentary seats.

© Magharebia.com 2011

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZA...cco_government

[Zolozai]

Originally Posted by dakhla

merci pour le compliment. j'ai cru que le debat a ete ouvert pour tous le monde et tous les marocains mais je vois que les jahala et motakhalifoune n'ont pas le droit de donner leur avis.

Oui justement quand on commence a traiter tout une partie de son peuple d'opportuniste qui ont vendu leurs pays a l'occupant tu demontre un niveau tres elever de jahl et takhalouf sur ta propre histoire et ta perception de tes compatriotes

[flyzone]

Originally Posted by dexter159

The usual short cut makhzenland blabla , your avg Mohamed dont even care about political law suites , he doesnt even know who's your rapper or even al himma !

The judicial system is plugged by bureaucracy and people not doing actually their jobs , next time go to a court at 8h-9h and check if there is judge around , you'll find none , it took me 1 week to get some random paper from there, on the other had it takes me 10-20min to get a birth certificate or any copy or any document from the nearby administration , it used to be a day or even more. Things change and it is the ministry of interior the most makhzanian ministry , but the residence certificate you can get it the same day or takes a week , just about the the luck to get that m9dem in his office ... its just because someone no doing his job properly .

who do you think is ruling morocco ? just a question I don't know , I'm just intrested in your opinion

[Snassni]

Benkirans Interview with Aljazeera

[BiladAtlas]

Originally Posted by Sniperman

donc si un jour on a la majorité du parlement est de la gauche on peut rêver d'une reforme pour avoir une monarchie parlementaire , n'est ce pas ??

Impossible. Le systeme est bien verouillé de telle sorte que le Roi soit celui qui a le dernier mot.
Lis l'article 174:
Les projets et propositions de révision de la Constitution sont soumis par dahir au référendum. La révision de la Constitution est définitive après avoir été adoptée par voie de référendum.
Le Roi peut, après avoir consulté le Président de la Cour constitutionnelle, soumettre par dahir au Parlement un projet de révision de certaines dispositions de la Constitution. Le Parlement, convoqué par le Roi en Chambres réunies, l'approuve à la majorité des deux tiers des membres.

Lis aussi les articles a72 and 173. Tu verra que le parlement a seulement droit a proposer des initiative de revision. On parle d'initiative seulement. Le langage est tres important ici. La decision doit toujours revenir a notre cher Roi bien aimé.

http://www.maroc.ma/NR/rdonlyres/229...nstitution.pdf

[flyzone]

who is ruling morocco : the king
but who is the king ?