Cablegate: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Defends

VZCZCXRO7303
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHRB #0606/01 0961445
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061445Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6257
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 5684
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3267
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 4589
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 2872

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000606

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM MO
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS MINISTER DEFENDS
ANTI-CORRUPTION LEGISLATION

REF: 06 RABAT 2173

This cable is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.

1. (SBU) Summary: In a March 27 meeting, Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Mohamed Said El Alami told Ambassador that
new legislation before parliament will require senior GOM
officials to declare their assets. Contrary to the charges
of some members of parliament and press speculation, the
Minister insisted that the law will also be applied to
Ministers and other royally nominated positions. El Alami
said the legislation, intended to increase government
transparency, is still encountering resistance within
parliament, especially in the upper house. End Summary.

2. (SBU) In a March 27 meeting with Ambassador,
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohamed Said El Alami insisted
that press speculation claiming Ministers and other appointed
officials would be excluded from new legislation requiring
select government officials to declare their assets is
incorrect and unfounded. (NB: As the legislation currently
stands there are separate bills referring to the Chamber of
Representatives, Chamber of Councilors, Constitutional
Council, Judges, Court of Accounts, and Civil Servants.) In
January, the King announced that Ministers and other senior
government officials nominated by royal decree will also be
subject to this legislation. El Alami, however, noted that
Ministers and other nominated officials would not be
specifically mentioned in the legislation, but that the
palace would release a decree obligating them to declare
their assets. This caveat was not initially understood by
members of parliament, which resulted in "uninformed
comments" alleging that they were unfairly singled out by the
government, added El Alami.

3. (SBU) While the government has proposed new legislation,
El Alami explained that the idea of declaring assets is not a
new concept in Morocco as some have claimed. The current
legislation builds on a law that has been on the books since
1992 (law n. 192-143). The 1992 bill is full of flaws, lacks
an effective implementation mechanism, and as a result, has
never been properly enforced, according to El Alami. (Note:
The current legislation targets a wide range of financial
resources; including real estate, bank accounts,
shareholdings, securities, inheritances, vehicles, contracted
loans, and other high value items, such as antiquities. End
Note.) He highlighted the government's new approach, which
includes 6 separate bills that complement the 1992 law, as a
positive step towards ensuring the effective enforcement of
the law. The proposed legislation would require
approximately 730,000 people to declare their assets,
according to the ministry, which has resulted in calls for
the creation an independent oversight body under the Prime
Minister's control -- reportedly not included in the proposed
legislation.

4. (SBU) El Alami maintained that the objective of the
legislation is to increase government transparency and argued
that no political party, member of parliament, or government
officials should oppose an initiative that intends to inject
a "sense of ethics" in to the government structure. For
their part many members of parliament, particularly upper
house councilors, have (incorrectly) assumed that their
immunity status should extend to the obligation to declare
assets, explained El Alami. (NB: After a government
investigation related to numerous reports of corruption or
improper activities surrounding last September's upper house
election, several members of parliament and local government
officials received jail sentences on corruption-related
charges. See reftel)

5. (SBU) Despite the government's recent efforts to clarify
this contentious issue, some members of parliament will
continue to express their objection to the legislation,
unconvinced of the need to publicly divulge what they
consider sensitive and personal information. The issue will
be high on parliament's spring session agenda, which kicks
off on April 13.

******************************************
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat
******************************************

RABAT 00000606 002 OF 002

RILEY

© Scoop Media