"The theory is good, but perhaps 20% is useful. The programs are a bit pre-formatted." This is quote from a Moroccan politician pretty much sums up the dark side democracy assistance these days. Check out Anna Khakee's new piece for FRIDE for the full assessment of democracy assistance programs in Morocco. Also, here is another critical look by Khakee of the EU approach to reforming the Moroccan Justice system.
I’ve been on a different planet for the past few months but I’m back with some great links on patronage and politics (these two words should always go together in Morocco-and most countries, for that matter). Check out Si Maati’s latest piece on the USFP as well as a new report by the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy assessing opportunities for engaging political actors for reform in Egypt, Morocco and ...
On Monday, Turkish police arrested 49 military commanders in Turkey's three biggest cities- Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir- for allegedly conspiring to topple the government as part of the "Sledgehammer" plot. The details of this latest coup attempt were unveiled in the liberal Taraf newspaper last month and are possibly linked to the Ergenekon conspiracy. The arrest of high-level officials like former air force chief Ibrahim Firtina and former navy chief Ozden Ornek highlights once again ...
The clamor over the closure of Le Journal continues amidst an environment in which the parameters of free speech within the kingdom seem to be shrinking daily. Just days after Le Journal’s offices were shut down, a blogger was arrested for organizing a bloggers’ strike. All of this on the heels of a critical Human Rights Watch report that the Moroccan government has been handicapped to rebut. It is telling that ...
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon arrived in Cyprus on Sunday to invigorate long-running talks between Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader, and Demetris Christofias, the Greek Cypriot leader. Both are in favor of reunifying the island, but have made little headway since negotiations started in 2008. The clock is ticking, and ticking loudly-- if hardliner Dervis Eroglu wins presidential elections in Northern Cyprus in April as expected ,it could ...
Issandr Amrani has a good piece out on the recent closure of Le Journal Hebdomadaire, Morocco’s first publication to push the newly expanding boundaries of free speech at the end of King Hassan’s rule ten years ago. I have enjoyed reading Le Journal for four years now and its state-ordered demise is a major blow to Morocco’s experiment with press freedom. In a different but related story, the editor of ...
Last week, the Turkish Constitutional Court overturned a law that would have allowed military personnel to be tried in civilian courts. The ruling drew criticism from leading members of the Strasbourg-based European Parliament and proved that the relationship between the AKP-dominated Parliament and the Kemalist courts remains tense.
A new year, a new plot unveiled. Yesterday, the liberal daily Taraf published a front page article detailing plans by figures in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to topple the ruling Justice and Development party. According to Taraf, the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) Security Operation Plan, allegedly masterminded by retired General Cetin Dogan in 2003, would incite violence both within Turkey and with Turkey’s neighbor Greece to create the conditions necessary for a ...
Americans spent yesterday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, Turks commemorated a similar hero, Hrant Dink, whose calls for peace were silenced by the bigotry and intolerance of Turkey’s ultra-nationalist forces. Dink, who was editor-in-chief of the Armenian-Turkish daily, Agos, was assassinated on January 19, 2007. Although today marks the third anniversary of his murder, the investigation has made little progress. Dink’s family, lawyers, and domestic and international human rights ...
It has taken me a week, but I’ve finally gotten around to sharing some thoughts on the recent remaniement ministérial. From first glance, the cabinet reshuffling appears to be about building momentum for upcoming reforms (regionalization) and promoting qualified technocrats, but this is more of a media-friendly backdrop. It doesn’t take much scratching to find a web of settled scores and political calculations below the surface. Here are a few ...
Mohammed Meskaoui, National Coordinator for the Protection of Public Assets, lashed out over the lack of transparency in the development of the Finance Law. He also said, “90% of parliamentarians are financially illiterate.” A senior USFP official recently proclaimed that atleast 25% of MPs were drug barons. What is the percentage of drug barrons in parliament who are also financially illiterate?
AFP reports that the 3-yr prison sentence for human rights activist, Chakib Khayari, was upheld today in a Casablanca appeals court. Khayari was sentenced earlier this year after exposing the involvement of senior officials in Morocco’s drug trade in the northern city of Nador. Bloggers and activists around the world have since pleaded for his release and several on-line petitions have also circulated. Criminal convictions of those courageous activists who ...
Eric Goldstein, the Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch, just released a new piece calling for U.S. policymakers to reconsider Morocco as a model for reform in the region. He states, “To remain silent about Morocco's backsliding because ‘it is better than its neighbors’ would promote complacency about a situation that, once a cause for hope, is threatening to settle down as one more ...
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at length on US-Morocco relations on the sidelines of the 6th annual Forum for the Future in Marrakech, November 2-3. She praised the 220 year friendship between our two countries and her own personal ties to the kingdom. With regards to US policy, she was unequivocal that the US stance in support of Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Western Sahara “has not changed.” She ...
Civil-Military relations are back on the front page in Turkey following new revelations about the soft coup document that emerged last June purporting to show a military plan to undermine the governing AKP through propaganda and legal action. An anonymous military officer who claims to have worked with the Colonel originally charged with writing the document has published a confession, leading to renewed criticism of Chief of Staff Ilker Basbug ...
Moroccan daily Assabah reported yesterday that the PAM will submit a proposal to parliament seeking to redirect budget control and spending from regional governors and mayors (under the control of the Ministry of Interior) to locally elected bodies (municipal and regional councils). It is unlikely that such a major change in governance will take place—as it would dramatically weaken the hand of the Ministry of Interior (and therefore the Palace) ...