Moroccan youth eager to participate in communal elections

2009-06-05

Moroccan young people break stereotypes and decide to weigh in during the upcoming communal elections.

Text and photos by Imane Belhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca – 05/06/09

Many young Moroccans plan to vote – or even stand for election – in the June 12th poll.

As Moroccans prepare to cast their ballots in the June 12th communal elections, observers already note a major difference from the last national poll in 2007. This time around, young people appear eager to be involved.

During the legislative election in 2007, young people were apathetic. Few turned out to vote. On Thursday (May 29th), however, at the official launch of campaigns for local representatives indifference was replaced with excitement. Young people took to the streets in support of their candidates or, in some cases, as candidates themselves.

"Participation in communal elections this year represents a break with the past," Younes Naoumi tells Magharebia. "It's also an opportunity for young people to defy the stereotype that some people give us as the weak link in building Moroccan society."

Naoumi is among 25 candidates under 30 years old who will be on the ballot June 12th for local leadership positions in the Hay Mohammedi neighbourhood of Casablanca. He has a strong desire to change the traditional image of communal advisor because, to his view, communal officials have consistently failed to achieve the goals and needs of their constituents.

"Citizens have lost confidence in the current party leaders and figures, rather than the parties and party activities," Naoumi explained.

Not all young people are as optimistic. "Whether we go to the ballot boxes or not, whether we defended our own existence and run in the elections or not, the situation will be the same," university student Rachid complains.

"It's the same old clichés – democracy, change, transparency, and service of public interests – which can be seen in all party slogans and speeches by their leaders, but we don't see any implementation on the ground," he says.

Candidate Naoumi counters that young people need to participate, "because aversion to voting is the thing that made the communal advisor lose his role and weight to the degree that local affairs are now monopolised by a minority. Big turnout is the factor that would restore confidence and prestige to communal work."

Naguib Idrissi, another of the young candidates on the independent list, shares the same opinion. "We believe in change, but we want it to be a change in ideas, mentalities and practices, not just in faces," he told Magharebia.

He praised the enthusiasm from local residents and the encouragement he is receiving, even from competing candidates from other parties, who appreciate the bold move from young people.

He points out, however, that young candidates are forced to turn to self-financing. They are not receiving any support from the state. They only receive some form of support from owners of printing houses.

All possibilities are likely, from a repetition of the low 2008 turnout to high youth participation in the June 12th elections.

But some observers believe that the turnout can't be expected to be more than 40%.

"If you're talking about youth participation in cheering and carrying a candidate's slogans, we are forming a force of youth who go out to the neighbourhoods every day to support this or that candidate and to list his qualities and to speak about his integrity and how he is the only one who can introduce change," says Hamida Nabil.

"However, this is because it's a paid task; we make a certain amount of money from that, and nothing else."

Young people are actively being recruited by different groups to distribute flyers and speak to residents in an attempt to convince them to vote. They usually receive about 100 to 200 dirhams a day, depending on the tasks they perform.

Political analyst Moustapha Lemdon believes that heated races to win a communal seat and achieve an interest perceived as more personal than public in nature made young people withdraw from participation last time around and choose instead to just watch from the sidelines.

"However, this can't be considered a reason to leave the opportunity to corrupters and opportunists."

Despite pressure to boycott, many Moroccans find voting to be a "national duty".

Khalil Melahi refuses to be just another name on the candidates' list without having the chance to win. His name is way down in the candidates list, and that may cost him the seat.

"Not only this," he said, "but those who ran on the same list don't have anything to do with the party; neither do they have a history of activism. Rather, they joined the list in the last minute and the party chose them because they have financial capabilities that will enable them to buy votes. So, how do you want the parties to recommend the young people who are still looking for a place in society?"

Blogs and websites that address the issue of communal elections and youth participation aren't free from strong comments on all sides. Some call for boycotting the elections, while others encourage voting as a national duty, without which desired change can't be made.

"Young men who boycott the elections are those who are desperate and cant find jobs, and who live under difficult economic and social conditions and therefore they don't think about politics," said young Moroccan Mohammed K.

Political science professor Mohamed Kalaoui proposes a "day for patriotism," in which citizens would feel the need to change and participate in all the affairs of concern to them.

"Young people should also constitute a lobbying force and impose themselves on political parties, and force change as long as these parties don't yet understand that times have changed," he said. "The older people in those parties have to pass the torch to the young people."

Some people, Kalaoui continues, "formed parties not to raise political awareness but to defend their own interests, and therefore, they never cared for youths' concerns".

In spite of all this, Morocco is creating mechanisms for training young people who want to run in the communal elections.

The National Institute for Youth and Democracy (NIYD) organised a multi-stage training course entitled "In Support of Youth Participation in Communal Elections."

Some forty young men and women are currently being accompanied during the electoral campaign by a specialised committee of NIYD experts to provide guidance and follow-up.

"We now have 32 young men taking part in the elections, in addition to the local and central coordinators and the managers. The work team is present and is seriously and concretely taking part," said NIYD Director Amina Soudi.

Among the pieces of advice given by NIYD to the new candidates is to accept people in spite of differences, respect their competitors and preserve communication techniques. NIYD also advises the candidate to make his discourse free from false promises and focus on what can be achieved on the ground.

It's worth-mentioning that national electorate base consists of 13,360,219 voters, including 54% men and 46% women.

Thirty-two percent of registered voters are under age 35.