To whom it may concern

N.B: Elmuspha Elmouaatasime was detained by the Moroccan authority one week after he published this article.



To Whom It May Concern!!

Abstract:

Mistaken are those who thought that we are not capable of distinguishing between authentic and fake. Mistaken are those who thought that we are living an illusion. Mistaken are those who think that we do not know the history of our country that of the old Sultan states as well as the modern Arab state. It was simply unfair to judge the new era of King Mohamed the 6th with that before it because we believe that none can be held for what others have done. We have come to the conclusion that transition to democracy is necessary especially after the wind of change has been blowing on the world since the fall of Berlin wall. Many totalitarian regimes have become democratic as a consequence.
We believed that the King Mohamed the 6th era should be given the opportunity, support and confidence. We have been engaged in the support of Democratic transition. We were not living an illusion, nor were we betrayed. If the new era promoters were just betraying us to gain time and control the political scene, they betrayed none but themselves. Those who let down the expectations of the New Era are not only destroying the people’ hope to achieve democracy and threatening the national unity, but also the integrity of political system itself. We have assumed, and we would be assuming our responsibilities towards our religion, country and nation. Our choice to struggle for the transition to democracy is a strategic decision that we will never give up no matter how frustrated we are. When we chose the democratic approach, we were aware of the hardships we would face. The struggle for democracy is the struggle of all honest people in our country whether from inside power, parties or civil society, each one from his side. It is a struggle for hope and against fear, struggle for a better future, for prosperity and development, a struggle for civil security and peace and against violence and terrorism, a struggle for enlightenment and liberation from constraints of backwardness.
Despite all the setbacks experienced in our democratic process, we have no other options than to stick the democratic transition process. Any other undemocratic option could lead us to disastrous outputs, which would only give way to extremists from all sorts: (Religious, ethnic, secular etc…).
Moroccans clear massage:

Moroccans have sent a clear message on the 7th of September 2007 elections. They have decided not to vote in predefined elections. Moroccans have been honest and sent clear message to those who are in power. It was a total failure of democracy in the last decade.

It is our duty to ask several questions to understand what happened exactly instead of justifying the unjustified. We need a good diagnosis to find the right cure to our situation.

· Was the majority elections boycott in Morocco on the 7th of Sept 2007 a clear message to political parties only?
· Wasn’t this boycott a reaction to the absence of transparency, improvisation of politicians? All politicians!!
· Wasn’t this a clear sign that the majority is not optimistic about the future, and the way the county is ruled?
If politicians haven’t received the message right, our crisis will become worse, and no one can predict the reaction of people through violent raise-ups to express their wrath.

Moroccans wander about the role of a parliament that a huge amount of public money is spent on!! Why this institution still lacks efficiency and credibility? What do we expect from an institution all its members are either absent or asleep during its sessions? The pro-government and the opposition are considered alike!! All of them are told to act inside a zone, which no one can cross!! What is the added value of parliament on the Moroccans life conditions?
What is the role of the government and its powers? What can be expected from governments that have neither projects nor harmony? How can a government rule without having a social background project? Isn’t the real government the one that contains the sovereignty ministers, the king’s advisers and the new elite? Why the educational system, the locomotive for any development, has failed; and whom should be held accountable for it? Why Morocco couldn’t get out the economic predicament? We have privatised practically all public companies, but we haven’t achieved any economic take-off. When public budget, due to unreasonable spending, went into a deficit, more tax were imposed, which made the living conditions of all Moroccans worse than ever. Why all the efforts to reach human development have come to a tragic end? Why have we failed in making the political and the economical spheres competitive, and who can be held accountable-without exception-in this case?

Morocco is witnessing a total crisis, which has local and international dimensions. It is a complicated crisis, but it is possible to solve if faced with firm will. Citing the different aspects of this crisis, or looking for a pretext to hide our failure is not what is needed. We need courage to find solutions for this crisis. No one can be optimistic about the future if this crisis persists.

The essence of a political crisis:

It is extremely regrettable that some politicians, instead of trying to understand the message sent by Moroccans who boycotted the 7th Sept 2007 elections, have chosen to blame the political scene and the weakness of political parties for all failures of Morocco.
We would like to note that the weakness of the political scene is not a genius invention. Any ordinary Moroccan citizen knows that let alone those who have created this situation in the first place. No one can claim that the Moroccan political scene is strong. It has been weak for a long time. However, one might ask a more important question. Who has made it weak? Isn’t corruption, penetration and the creation of throw away parties (administrative parties) as well as completing plots to ruin the political scene etc…All this was carried out by “political engineers “ who wanted an easy to handle political scene. During the last decade, the political scene was dismantled by making it chaotic to be able to rearrange according to the perceptions of the Moroccan “ neocons”.

We have the right to address those whom it may concern: weren’t the last elections (07/09/07) the straw that broke the camels back? In terms of political participation especially when corrupted parties were able to buy votes publicly. Wasn’t the (negative) neutrality of the order force a shame? The way the government was formed made Moroccans forsake political participation.

No one can deny that most political leaderships and parties are either part of the problem or have no idea what politics is. The majority of our parties are non-democratic, and represent only the interest of their elite, which crosses with interests of the new bourgeoisie, that has no other preoccupation than consolidating its leadership to accumulate fortunes.
Part of the crisis of the political sphere is the corruption of parties’ leaderships that promotes only its interests. The politician has become a mercenary, which made political parties weak and political participation absurd.
Some members of the new elite in Morocco are part of the political problem. They think they are able to run Morocco on their own and solve all its issues. They want parties in the background to legitimate elections applaud decisions taken by the real rulers of Morocco with the only compensation of staying at the government or have personal interests. The presence of parties in official institutions is only a formality.

The international dimension of our crisis:

Due to the imperial hegemony, we are supposed to face the globalisation that is aiming at controlling minority states. The new elites in our country have decided for the theory of Fucuyama and Huntington that promotes the end of history, Ideology, national state etc…the role of the national state has shrunk especially providing health and education services and subsidizing main food products that poor people live on.

Morocco has become in the core competition of international superpowers (France, USA). We have come to the stage that our vital interests are sacrificed for pleasing those countries. Morocco has been pressured by the USA to get it involved in its war against “terrorism”. Spain and France have also pressured Morocco for it is under their geopolitics zone as well as the Sahara issue. The Moroccan diplomacy has dealt with those big issues in a very primitive way. Many mistakes have been committed. Morocco has forsaken its Arab role. Bilateral relation with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Spain and Senegal were at stake due to the lack of tact and diplomacy.

How to avoid (political) clinical death:

In the 90s of last century, King Hassan the 2nd said that Morocco is about to reach clinical death due to failing policies of governments from independence. Morocco has witnessed then a process of change. A general amnesty was granted to political detainees. Exiled Moroccans were allowed back. The whole process has culminated into the famous government of consensual headed By Elyousfi. It was clear then that Morocco was on the right path towards a genuine democracy that wipe the tyranny of the past since Independence Day. Moroccans were even more optimistic about the future when the new king ascended the throne. The new king has used new terms: the new era, democratic transaction, the new perception of rule, transparency, responsibility etc… Many actions have taken place, which gave the impression that Morocco is onto a deep structural change. People were even more optimistic.
The King has gone down to meet the popular class directly. The image of the king of the poor was consolidated. This royal dynamic has culminated in the National Initiative of Human Development. Morocco has achieved in a very short time what hasn’t in decades. The Mediterranean port of Tangier is the pride of this initiative.


Yes, there are achievements that can’t be denied. However, there were also failures that almost covered all the reforms made. Hence, the feeling of lack of confidence has reemerged questioning the authenticity of the reform achievements. Corrupted lobbies, being deep-rooted and favored, has managed to stay strong when King Mohamed 6th came to power, reappearing when necessary to abort any attempt of transition towards democracy. Corrupted forces have disrupted all attempts to transparency, freedom of speech, free elections. In one word, they have been a hindrance to the democratic process in the country.
Democratic parties haven’t contributed much to the progress of democracy in the country. The majority of them played the viewer role counting the royal initiatives to the extent that some established an observatory of it. They have stayed neutral. They neither supported the King’s decisions, nor have they advised, suggested and opposed him when necessary. Only some independent press outlets have assumed their responsibility though less efficiently in some cases.
Some political actors whom have appeared on the scene with King Mohamed the 6th, and some right and left political leaders have fallen into a hysterical fear from the Islamic parties. This phobia has spread over the political scene giving way to hardliners and corrupted forces to reappear strongly on stage during the 2007 legislative elections with the purpose of blocking any progress of Islamic parties.
As a result, democratic rules were violated, ethics were put aside, and strange alliances were formed (left-wing, right-wing etc…). The preventive American war against “terrorism” and the criminal acts of terrorism of 16 May 2003 in Casablanca were to justify the severe violations of human rights.
Now that Moroccans have boycotted the legislative elections massively, and the publication of the confidential report of the World Bank announcing that Morocco has retreated three points in the human development classification, we are no longer threatened by political “heart attack” as we were in 1995, but political “clinical death”.
We are in an authentic crisis, and no one that belongs to this religion, country or nation can’t help getting involved.
We all are required to carry out the necessary self-criticism:
Self-criticism is required urgently before it is too late. All should be included ( people in power, right and left wing parties and Islamic parties). We have the right to ask the Islamic parties of clear attitude towards democracy, human rights, women rights etc…we have the right too to ask people in power and all political parties to change their attitude towards Islamic parties as compatriots and grant them full membership in the political scene in our country.
We are also asked to carry out the necessary reforms to recover confidence in the political life. Constitutional, legal, justice reforms etc… are necessary for any political progress.
At last but not least:
Moroccan Political parties have been heavily criticized in the last few years, but it is time to ask two main issues for discussion.
1- Is it possible to build a modern country with no political parties or with weak parties that have no legitimacy?
2- If the answer to the first question is “No”, how can we make the political scene more serious to avoid political catastrophes?
Here I would like to address, those whom it may concern, with great spontaneity, sincerity and keenness to pass the democratic transition exam. Morocco needs to launch a large workshop to answer these central questions, a large dialogue that excludes none, but those who exclude themselves.
To those whom it may concern I say: it is impossible to build a strong political scene with fake parties. It is impossible to replace political parties by civil society associations.

Rabat February the 2nd 2008.