Morocco and the Mauritanian Coup
August 14th, 2008 by Adam
Kal at The Moor Next Door has an interesting analysis of Morocco’s position towards Mauritania’s coup, which it has taken a favorable attitude towards. Morocco’s attempts to cultivate a positive relationship with the junta are an attempt, “…to cultivate a favorable disposition in the regime presently in place so that when the rest of the world does reconcile with the junta, which would ideally take place by way of Morocco, the Mauritanians will have to pay the Kingdom back in some manner or the other.”
In other coup related news, the EU threatened Mauritania’s junta with international isolation unless it restored institutions to how they were before the coup. The EU issued a statement saying, “The EU warns the military junta that the country faces the serious risk of long-lasting isolation from the international scene.”
Posted in EU, Mauritania, Morocco, North Africa | 1 Comment »
Democratic Reform in Morocco
August 13th, 2008 by Sarah
Andrew G. Mandelbaum at the Democratic Piece responds to Shadi Hamid’s post on obstacles to political reform in Morrocco at Democracy Arsenal. Mandelbaum disagrees with Hamid’s characterization of U.S. democracy promotion efforts. “Democracy promotion is not a mechanism for forcing structural change upon other countries, especially other countries that you are allied with.” Mandelbaum did note that “it would be nice if the Bush administration would be a bit more helpful and a bit less hypocritical.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Morocco, US foreign policy | Comment »
Mauritanian Coup Update
August 12th, 2008 by Adam
The Arabist writes that the coup in Mauritania is especially damaging to the country’s democratic hopes as it was conducted by the same people involved in the 2005 coup as well as supporters of former President Ould Taya. He also says it will be impossible to justify this coup as protecting democracy as so much “symbolic capital” was spent on legitimizing the previous coup.
On a related note, Kal at The Moor Next Door reports that Morocco’s intelligence chief has met with general Gen. Abdel Aziz and offered Morocco’s support while suggesting that he should release members of the previous government as a sign of good will. Responding to external pressure, the coup leaders have released the Prime Minister and several other officials, but the President remains under house arrest.
Posted in Mauritania, Morocco, North Africa | Comment »
Morocco’s Moderates and the Chances of Reform
August 5th, 2008 by Adam
Shadi Hamid, POMED’s Director of Research, writes at Democracy Arsenal that, Abdelilah Benkirane, the recently elected leader of Morocco’s PJD, is indicative of the problems plaguing democratic reform in the region. Benkirane is a referred to as a “moderate,” but Hamid refers to him as traditionalist that is unwilling to upset the status quo. He is only called a “moderate” because he is unwilling to criticize the monarchy, the biggest impediment to Morocco becoming a democracy. Hamid claims that unless Morocco’s opposition is willing to drop its non-confrontational attitude towards the monarchy than it will lose its chance to be an important player in moving ahead political reform.
Posted in Morocco, Reform | Comment »
Morocco’s Islamists and the Problem of Participation
July 28th, 2008 by Adam
The Carnegie Endowment for Peace has an intriguing report by Amr Hamzawy about Morocco’s Islamist, Party for Justice and Development (PJD). Hamzawy sees that the PJD, though entrenched in the nation’s political system, is challenged by various constraints, including the system’s semi-authoritarian nature, the power of the King, and competition to win the Islamist vote. This puts the PJD in a perpetually unstable posture as it must play by the rules to remain politically acceptable to the powers that be, while it cannot be so moderate that it alienates its religiously oriented constituency. Hamzawy mentions that while some of these factors are unique to Morocco, it does highlight the dilemmas faced by Islamist parties seeking peaceful political participation.
Posted in Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Morocco, Political Islam, Political Parties, Reform | Comment »
Morocco’s Islamist Party Selects Moderate Leader
July 23rd, 2008 by Sarah
Morocco’s Islamist Justice and Development Party has selected Abdelilah Benkiran, a leading moderate figure, as the group’s new leader replacing Saad Eddine Othmani.
Ahmad Hamouch at IslamOnline.net notes Benkiran’s moderate position and points to his focus “on the everyday concerns rather than on religious agenda,” which Benkiran describes as “inspired by our Islamic background but a religious background linked to the citizen’s needs…The citizens suffer from poverty, unemployment, a housing crisis and problems in education and healthcare.”
Democracy Digest notes, however, that the PJD faces criticism from “radical Islamists opposed to its accommodation with the state and from secular democrats who believe that, despite its incremental approach, the party retains a commitment to ultimately implementing sharia law.”
Posted in Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Morocco, Political Islam, Political Parties | Comment »
Sshhh…. Don’t Tell Anybody
June 27th, 2008 by Amanda
The Daily News Egypt reports that an American tourist was “marring Egypt’s image” by catching both its pervasive poverty, and sectarian fighting between Muslims and Copts on film. A hotel employee reported the woman to the Tourist Police where the State Security authorities have made attempts to find the tourist. The documentary also captured images of police intervention in the sectarian clashes.
Hossam el-Hamalawy at a3rabawy refers to another example of civil rights quashing by the Egyptian government as poet and journalist Farouk Goweida is continually denied membership to the Supreme Council for Culture in retaliation for his public criticisms of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif in Al-Ahram newspaper.
The crack down on journalists by the Moroccan government is highlighted in the Daily Star by James Badcock.
Posted in Egypt, Journalism, Morocco, Sectarianism | Comment »
Foundations of Women’s Rights in Morocco
June 12th, 2008 by Sarah
Daniel Williams of the International Herald Tribune explores divisions in Morocco’s women’s movement by highlighting the work of Saida Idrissi and Nadia Yassine. Idrissi, a secular activist, says Islamic tradition must not be allowed to influence laws governing social issues like marriage and divorce. She worries that Islamists, “‘want to base law on the Koran, something we think will inhibit women.” Yassine, counters that Islam, when applied correctly, is the real basis for women’s rights. “Secular feminists live in a separate world,” she says. “The fact is, we are Muslims here. How else can women see rights except through Islam?”
Posted in Morocco, Political Islam, Reform, Women | Comment »
June Edition of the Arab Reform Bulletin
June 11th, 2008 by Sarah
The June edition of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Arab Reform Bulletin is now available. This month’s edition features an interview with Egyptian blogger, Sandmonkey, and articles by Ibrahim Gharaibeh, Moataz El Fegiery, and Andrew Ng.
Sandmonkey discusses the role of the internet in mobilizing Egypt’s dissenting voices, the political attitude of Egypt’s youth, and the recent food protests in Cairo. “We live in a controlled society with an oppressive government, so expressing an opinion is asking for trouble. The only place you can do it safely is on the internet.”
Ibrahim Gharaibeh addresses the development of divisions in Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood. “It is clear that the Jordanian Islamist movement still is at risk of splintering. Divisions that were once seen mostly at the leadership level have now penetrated the movement in a much deeper way.”
Moataz El Fegiery discusses why most national human rights institutions in the Arab World, outside of Morocco and Palestine, have been unable to establish legitimacy. Because of the deterioration of democratization efforts and strained relationships between authorities and civil societies, these institutions have not been able to improve the status of human rights. “Only if [these institutions] are permitted to play their rightful role in mobilizing public opinion, communicating with civil society, and in turn pressing governments, will their work move beyond an academic exercise that any scholarly institution could undertake.”
Andrew Ng is concerned about the implications of a new political movement in Morocco. The Movement for All Democrats advocates for political reform, but the pressing question is whether the movement “will channel its energy toward engaging and strengthening the parliament or bypass it” and focus on the King instead. Ng warns that “the more the MAD behaves like a royally-blessed association dismissive of parliament, the more it will reinforce the political status quo.”
For the full Arab Reform Bulletin, click here.
Posted in Egypt, Human Rights, Jordan, Morocco, Muslim Brotherhood, Reform, Technology | Comment »
NPC: Human Rights and Political Reform in Morocco
June 10th, 2008 by Sarah
The National Press Club invited Dr. Ahmed Herzenni, the President of the Advisory Council on Human Rights, and Fatiha Layadi, journalist and Independent party member of the Moroccan parliament, to discuss how the establishment of Morocco’s truth and reconciliation commission has strengthened the country’s civil and political institutions. The event was moderated by Jane Arraf, former CNN Baghdad Bureau Chief, and introductions were made by American Moroccan Institute’s President Mokhtar Ghambou.
For POMED’s full notes, click here.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, Morocco, Reform | Comment »
POMED Notes: Democratization in Morocco
May 2nd, 2008 by Sharlina
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted a talk discussing whether Morocco is on the path to democratization. Aboubakr Jamaï, Former Publisher of Le Journal Hebdomadaire (Casablanca), discussed the electoral process, the reform of the women status law, and a formal recognition of the regime’s past human right abuses.
For POMED’s full notes on the event, please click here.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Morocco | Comment »
Successful POMED Conference in Morocco Completed Over the Weekend
April 28th, 2008 by Stephen
On Friday and Saturday, POMED held a conference in Rabat, Morocco entitled, “Find Your Voice: A Cross-Cultural Forum on Political Participation and Civic Activism.” The conference brought together 25 American and 25 Moroccan students and young professionals to explore pathways to youth empowerment through political participation, civil society activism, media and blogging. The conference was organized by Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), and the Institut National de la Jeunesse et la Démocratie (INJD), an initiative under the Moroccan Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The conference was a tremendous success, and it kicked off the 2008 “Young Global Leaders Forum: Democratic Development in the Middle East and North Africa” series of conferences. The next conference will be this coming weekend in Cairo, followed by a third conference May 29-31 in Amman, Jordan.
A preliminary report on the Morocco conference is now available here.
Check back in the days and weeks ahead for more detailed reports from the conference including the policy recommendations formulated and approved democratically by the American and Moroccan conference participants.
Posted in Morocco, POMED | Comment »
A Lifetime of Political Imprisonment
April 21st, 2008 by Amanda
The BBC reports on Moroccan dissident and human rights advocate Mohamed Bougrine, having just recently received a royal pardon at age seventy-two, holds the title of “Morocco’s oldest political detainee,” spending nearly 50 years in and out of prison for political crimes.
And while he claims that human rights and political freedoms have improved under King Mohamed VI, Bougrine “wants a true democracy for his country, and says almost all Arab regimes are despotic.”
Posted in Morocco | Comment »
POMED Notes: Brookings Event on Arab Public Opinion
April 17th, 2008 by Amanda
Shibley Telhami of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution presented his most recent polling research entitled “Views from the Middle East: Public Opnion in the Arab World” conducted by the University of Maryland and Zogby International covering public opinion in six Arab states (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and UAE). Poll questions included topics such as Lebanese Politics, the Arab-Israeli conflict, views of the United States and its efforts to spread democracy in the Middle East.
For POMED’s notes on the event, click here.
Posted in Egypt, Events, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Public Opinion, Saudi Arabia, UAE | Comment »
New Public Opinion Data from Arab World
April 16th, 2008 by Stephen
At Abu Aardvark, Marc Lynch reacts to the results of a new University of Maryland/Zogby International poll of public opinion in six Arab countries (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates). The results included the fact that 65% of those surveyed said, ”I don’t believe that promoting democracy is a real American objective.” Lynch is discouraged by the small number of Arabs who would prefer to live in the United States and what appears to be a waning interest in US politics and declining belief that electoral results could bring policy changes.
Posted in Arab media, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Public Opinion, Saudi Arabia, UAE | Comment »
Anti-Homosexual Offensive in the Arab World
April 10th, 2008 by Sharlina
An Egyptian court convicted five men Wednesday on charges of homosexual behavior and sentenced them to three years in prison, with reports that the judge found the men guilty of the “habitual practice of debauchery,” a term used in the Egyptian legal system to denote consensual homosexual acts.
Bloomberg’s Daniel Williams reports of Egyptian police’s sweeps over the past three months as part of “an effort by governments throughout the Middle East to out-moralize Islamic parties that have denounced the perceived depravity of Arab societies under autocratic rule.”
In January, six men in Morocco were accused of homosexual conduct, a crime in that country, after a video circulated that showed one dancing at a wedding dressed as a woman, while Kuwait’s parliament in December passed a law that criminalized “imitating the appearance of the opposite sex.”
Posted in Egypt, Human Rights, Kuwait, Morocco | Comment »
Carnegie’s Arab Reform Bulletin for April
April 3rd, 2008 by Amanda
Be sure to check out the April issue of the Arab Reform Bulletin from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This month’s edition features a fascinating interview with three key female political actors from the Gulf on women’s political participation: Rola Dashti (Kuwait), Fatin Bundagi (Saudi Arabia), and Munira Fakhro (Bahrain).
Also included are a critical look at next week’s municipal elections in Egypt by Khalil al-Anani, an examination of the fairness of Morocco’s electoral system by Michael Meyer-Resende, and an article on President Bush’s budget request for fiscal year 2009 and what it means for democracy in the Arab world, by POMED’s Stephen McInerney.
Their news roundup also covers many fascinating developments such as the opening of the first church in Qatar, a constitutional amendment in Tunisia that should make it possible for more candidates to run in the presidential election next year, and labor unrest in the UAE.
Posted in Arab media, Bahrain, Egypt, Elections, Freedom, Gulf, Journalism, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE, US foreign policy | Comment »
Carnegie’s Arab Reform Bulletin for March
March 6th, 2008 by Sharlina
A highly recommended read, the Arab Reform Bulletin of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is now available in its March edition. The issue contains an analysis of the the latest efforts by Arab leaders to stifle Arab media, an examination of Morocco’s Party of Justice and Development (PJD)’s attempts at inclusion, and a look at Fatah’s future prospects of survival.
In its news roundup, the Bulletin features coverage of the delay in Presidential elections in Lebanon, abolition of Libyan ministries, and efforts by many to release prisoners in Bahrain, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Posted in Arab media, Bahrain, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Publications, Tunisia | Comment »
