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Sunday, 05 Jul 2009
 
 
Reasons Morocco needs a CHANGE
ZAK ETTAMYMY

 
Moroccoboard
News Service

The precarious attitude of our officials (Moroccans) regarding the strategic dossiers of the country is flagrant and plain shameful. I hear about enemies of Morocco being honored in a country that we consider our friend, America should have been out of limits for the Polisario we read about them moving around the USA with senators and heavy weight politicians in their side and our diplomats are watching!

 

 

The precarious attitude of our officials (Moroccans) regarding the strategic dossiers of the country is flagrant and plain shameful. I hear about enemies of Morocco being honored in a country that we consider our friend, America should have been out of limits for the Polisario we read about them moving around the USA with senators and heavy weight politicians in their side and our diplomats are watching!

I stood silently watching this flagrant mediocrity for too long, our strategy is not working, our diplomacy is not adequate for the 21st century, we can not go on like this, Haider nomination, itself, should have alarmed the Moroccan diplomats before the prize winning. I am speaking from the bottom of my heart, something ought to change and soon.
We are tired of loosing due to the mediocrity of the officials, if someone is not performing right or this prize winning happens on someone’s watch, he/she should go, Morocco is too important to let it rot because of a  handful of incompetent officials. This is an accident, we do not keep a train-crossing guard if he sleeps on the job and causes a major accident; well here we have diplomats in deep hibernation and no one is saying a thing about it. Come’on! We know that their performance, especially in America is to say the least “disoriented” and in plain English bad; these diplomats are perhaps well suited for Europe but when it comes to the USA, forget about it, they drown in a cup of water and sink in their shyness.

I know someone who is well endowed politically, academically and more, this friend was invited by a major university to expose the political, economical and strategic reality of his country, a great opportunity to show case many things about Morocco, including the legitimacy of the Moroccan attachment to the Sahara. This young Moroccan tried in vain to get the Moroccan officials involved in this positive endeavor. Hopelessly all doors were shut in his face, no one wanted to answer his phone calls, he finally gave up and apologized to this prestigious university saying “sorry, it seems that Morocco is not ready yet to participate or to have a month long presence in a place where the leaders of tomorrow are born” this man full of energy and love for Morocco is now active in American politics with a life-long grudge against the Moroccan officials.
The Moroccan stature in the world is not adequate and does not represent the real merits of this country, the Moroccan history is way too rich for this nation to play such a minimum role in the world and for it to be reduced to such mediocrity, I see it as a result of poor management on the government level of the capacities and the resources of the country, we have many smart people who can not find jobs and many not so smart people with the right fathers getting great jobs unmerited, so what happens in this case? Who loses in this culture of favoritism? Morocco loses big time and things get lousy because they are performed by unqualified people, Parliamentarians who won seats not because of their agendas and programs but because they could afford 200DH per vote, so they go the parliament to take a long nap and much needed immunity.
How does Morocco achieve 6 % growth?  It is beyond my comprehension,  a country with 50% uneducated population, corruption and inadequate work force, again not because it does not exist, but because it does not get hired.  Believe me when I say that if Obama was Moroccan and with his background, he would never have had a chance to make it.

In the name of this nation, in the name of the love we still feel for this land, let’s get our act together lets:
Stop hiring the wrong people for big jobs
Give the qualified yet not too connected people a chance “the Obama way”
Fire every official who under performs regardless of his connections
Eradicate corruption, if we can’t do this I should stop here.
Stop wasting money on the wrong causes
Educate the Moroccan person and give him the chance to voice his objections
Take away excess power from people who mishandle it
PUT QUALIFIED PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THE SAHARA, IT IS OUR FUTURE.


We can all observe this mediocrity and look the other way but we would not be serving our beloved Morocco, we are positive when we criticize ourselves for shortcomings and pitfalls, unfortunately I have been seeing  a lot of them lately, I can’t take it anymore, it is time for a change, remember this slogan? I wonder if it will resonate with the Moroccan person:  CHANGE.
Here is the bottom line, the status quo is not working: our policies are not working, our art is  a joke, our sports are irking our pride, our parliament is a sleeping room, our saints became a place for strange behaviors, our youths are despaired to a point of throwing themselves to the sea or blowing themselves up for strange ideologies, our journalism is either too controversial and plain stupid or it is unfairly shut off,  our nationalism is lower than ever, our pride is hurt by many lows in our society.  A change is a must, we are proud of our  religion, we love our country and we respect our king the rest is changeable.


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Mounir
...
01/30/09
 
Title:
Why do these politians have such low motivation, and such a lack of empathy for there own people. Our country has so much history and pride and were here in the bottom of the barrel compared to other country's. If this is how the parliament is going to act the king might as well abolish it all since they are just wasting Moroccan tax dollars improving there own situations instead of doing any good. Its as if they don't want there country to prosper, what kind of human being doesn't want to see there country becoming prosperous and respected around the world. But as they say, you cant the world unless we change ourselves.
The way i see it, we need to invest a lot of money on education, with a focus on the science and math. infrastructure modernization, improving business creation procedures, and create some kind of department with a sole focus of preventing corruption and making laws so severe against it that they almost equal to treason. (which i think it is, to hurt your own country)
Slawi
First we need change back home
11/20/08
 
Title:
Dear Zak,

I agree with most what you've said,the moroccan diplomats and officials in America are lost in translation, they keep a very low profile and the reason is they're not qualified for these kind of jobs. But they're not the ones who should be blamed for their poor performances, we need to blame the ones who appointed them to sush positions and did not fire them. In Morocco,
as we all know positions are distributed not by merit but by who do you know, the connections you have and how close you are to the eye beholder.

Also the mission as defined to most of these diplomats is not to promote or defend the interest of Morocco, like the Sahara dossier for example, but their mission is to control and follow the steps of the Moroccans living in the U.S. The mentality of police state is following us overhere.

The moroccan government outsourced the job of the diplomats to some lobbyist here in Washington D.C. to battle on it's behalf (Sahara dossier), but the same government forgot that these lobbyist are money mongers, all they care about is how much they'll make in the next affair, and who will give them more. In this case Morocco is outnumbered by Algeria which has far more money du to it's gas exportation and the petrodollars it generates. The case of Aminatou Haidar is a good example, rumors says that the algerian government has given $2 million to Robert F. Kennedy organization.

Also I wanna emphasize the fact that the Kingdom of Morocco has a really bad image abroad,it's low ranking in the late PNUD classification, lack of respect of human rights,corruption, embezzlement...etc....

That's why we need change back home first.To be respected, Moroccan rulers should start by showing to the world that they respect their own citizens, respect their human rights, right to a good education, health care for all and decent pay jobs.

The Western Sahara is moroccan, the moroccan government does not need to waste the tax payers money in buying lobbyist who are doing a poor job. The moroccan government should invest in it's own citizens living in America, should empower the Moroccan-American Community. We're more than 100,000 fox living permanently here, we're the best weapon that the moroccan government could have to advance the Sahara dossier or any other cause. We're not mercenaries looking for money or any kind of rewards, we're doing it because we love our country and because it's a just cause.

Thank you for reading my comment.
said K
change is always good
11/19/08
 
Title:
great analysis, I believe that it's not too late to save the situation.
USa is a ally and they will not let us down but they look out for themselves so we need to be independent and careful.
I also agree with himmarmad that we need to reach out to sahrawis in Tindouf and of course clean house.
fares
Winning together
11/19/08
 
Title:
Dear Zak and Hmimarmad,
I am proud of you and delighted to know that I have such bright compatriots! I have the feeling that you have raised very crucial points.
We, as new generations of Moroccans and Algerians are suffering from what is happening in our respective countries. This is because we are aware of the situation but we can not act on it.
We all know that our countries are not real democracies. We did not elect these people. How will they serve our interests?
Look at the participation rates in the latest Algerian and Moroccan parliamentary elections of 2007 of May and September respectively. Only 35% of registered voters turned out to cast their ballots in Algeria and 37% in Morocco, the lowest in the history of the two countries since their ‘independence’.

the turnout is considerably lower because of
rejected ballots, the turnout is estimated to be 24% in the case of Morocco because 20% eligible population are not registered and 19% of voters deposited blank ballots. This rate should be lower in Algeria.
This means that political parties are out of action in both countries and the legitimacy of the two governments is threatened.
I went back to the elections because this is the starting point and everything follows.
Hmimarmad you smartly insisted on CHANGE and what I would like to add to this is that hope is on the shoulders of the new generations. Old lions are stuck in the past and the true battle is between old and new generations rather than between countries . Young Moroccans and Algerians should work hand in hand to overcome the heritage of the past. At least we need to work to avoid the transmission of hate. This is like a tumor killing the cells of hope in the Maghreb body. You mentioned the Moroccan press official agency chanting victory each time Morocco obtains some minor support from Europe or America and I do agree with you .
How can we gain the sympathy, collaboration of our opponents if we are only offending them and offering them official press declarations? With such media propaganda, they won’t open their minds and hearts to us. I sometime wonder if this is done by Moroccans that want to solve the Sahara issue or by weapon traders.
The issue is traumatizing everyone: Sahrawi in the camps and Moroccans and Algerians being isolated from each and not benefiting from union, peace and free mobility.
Algerians and Moroccans should not rely on other countries to solve this issue. US, France, Spain and others have their own concerns. Any external intervention may bring prejudices and unfairness to the process since to two parties did not believe in the central principals: WINNING together.
Do not wait for the diplomats. We, as Moroccan and Algerian citizens, wherever we can meet even in the web, are invited to act hand in hand to push the process into a solution which should end without a winner and a loser and this is possible if we forget about the past. This is because we need each other for the future. This is our true destiny.
Yusuf
...
11/19/08
 
Title:
My heart sinks when I see or hear a Moroccan official talking to western media. I am certain there are people out there who are talented and who can change the views of many western influential states. Morocco has to look again into the problems from the roots. We have to review our strategies for future generations. We have to set targets in education to be achieved by certain dates. We have to at look at other countries like China, India, Brazil and Argentina, where the education was put in their top agenda. We have to give up on French, or at least should not be the must-be language of learning in our schools. We have to encourage the use of English, Why? Because it opens more opportunities to our young people into more countries not limited to France. I thought we got our independent from France and Spain in 1958, just to realize whenever I visit Morocco officials at the airport answering me in French even when I talk to them in Arabic. Change …. What change!
Mouna
...
11/19/08
 
Title:
I couldn t agree with you more , we need to start working on this issues together.
What about a petition ,if really we want to bring a change and trust me we can.
A petition has the power to change and rebuild.
Will
It IS pretty embarrassing for Morocco
11/19/08
 
Title:
That Western Sahara is getting so popular in the US. About time, if you ask me.
MBoarder
...
11/19/08
 
Title:
Bullseye Zak!
Hmimarmad
...
11/18/08
 
Title:
Dear Zak,
You could not have phrased it better. I agree with you 100 %. I still think that the ball is in M6's court. He is the ultimate decider in term of putting servants to be in charge of the Sahara dossier. He has the power, the authority, and the right to "CHANGE" things. He is not doing it for one reason or the other. Placing someone with a decency to fight for the Sahara will facilitate his task. The longer the current people are in charge, the worst it is for M6 . I think current people in charge have too much to do anyway. They are simply overworked because of our numerous problems.

How about a “Ministre des Affaires Sahariennes”? Someone decent and qualified and not some khellihenna ould rachid. Someone who is especially respected in Tindouf and in layoune. Someone who wants to help this process to move forward and someone who cares about the people of Tindouf as much as the people smara, saqia lhamra, boujdour and Layoune.


I said that we should reach out to the Sahraouis. We have called them; rebels, misguided terrorists, secessionist, fantasists, traitors, etc and we expect them to love us and to refrain from calling us \"barking dogs\". It ain\'t going to happen.
One would ask; how are you going to reach out to the Sahraouis?. I say you lead by example. You create and enforce a democracy. When a Sahraoui realizes that life in a democracy is better than an authoritarian Polisario regime, he/she will come to a conclusion that they also need a \" CHANGE\". Right now they see Sidi ifni, they see kids jailed for graffiti, they see someone jailed for a simple Facebook profile and they come to a conclusion that there is no difference between the camps of Tindouf from the slums of Casablanca. They say at least in Tindouf, RFK foundations and the others would feel sorry for us, no one would feel sorry for us if we were those unlucky ones in the slums of Sidi Moumen.
We need to try something radical and that is to reach out to the people on the ground of Tindouf, we rely too much on France, Spain, and the US to solve our problems and we forgot that we these countries look after their benefits first, and they are right. For instance, when a Spanish official travels to Algeria, the first thing you hear is “International law needs to be applied and a referendum must take place” when this same official travels to Morocco you hear “ The autonomy is a way to move forward”. And right after that you hear the drum of the very official news agency MAP chanting victory.
Are we that stupid?


Good day!

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