2007 Daba aims to increase voting by Moroccan youth and women

26/09/2006

The new 2007 Daba association is working to encourage young people and women in Morocco to take part in the 2007 elections as part of its efforts to revaluate political involvement in Morocco and to further develop democracy in the country.

By Hassan Benmehdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 26/09/06

[File] From L to R, Belkhayat, Belkziz, Ayouch, and Bennis.

The new 2007 Daba association has the objective of revaluating political involvement in Morocco in the run-up to the 2007 legislative elections. The association set out its plan at a September 19th press conference in Casablanca.

The 2007 legislative elections will present an opportunity to judge the health of the democratic process in the country. The Moroccan constitution was revised in 1996 to expand parliament's powers to include budgetary matters, approval of authority and establishing commissions to investigate the government, according to MAP. The last parliamentary elections, which were held in November 2002, were considered fair, free and transparent.

Noureddine Ayouch, founding president of 2007 Daba, sees an opportunity to further develop Morocco's democracy.

To achieve his vision of increased political participation, he has surrounded himself with ambitious Moroccans, the majority of whom are new to politics. His associates include Moulay Abdelhafid Elalamy, head of AGMA, Ali Ababou, CEO and member of the board of SGMB, Mohamed Abdeljalil, CEO of ODEP, Fathia Bennis, CEO of Maroc Clear, Salwa Kerakri Belkziz, president of the Moroccan Association of Women Business Leaders, Moncef Belkhayat, director of Méditel's commercial arm, and political scientist Mohamed El Ayadi.

Ayouch stressed 2007 Daba arose out of what was seen as the alarming finding that the public, particularly women and young people, were showing a marked disaffection with politics. He feels the situation threatens the development of democracy in Morocco.

Ayouch reported at the association's first meeting with the media in Casablanca on September 19th that 50% of young people have not registered to vote, only 38% took part in the last legislative elections, 68% have no confidence in politics, 95% do not identify with any mainstream political movement, and fewer than 1% of women belong to political parties.

One of the major objectives for 2007 Daba is to give women and young people a renewed interest in politics and increase the voting rate of the groups by 25%. The association also wants to give the intellectual and economic elite the desire to make a concrete contribution to the parties.

Ayouch is planning to mobilise Moroccans of all ages for mass participation in the 2007 legislative elections. As part of the effort, 2007 Daba will call on authorities to ensure complete transparency in free choice for electors and to penalise any use of money or other illicit resources for electoral purposes.

Ayouche says the time is ripe for civil society and political parties to work side-by-side to contribute to the development of a political culture in Morocco. The association, he says, "is not competing with the parties, but its objective consists basically of throwing itself resolutely into the process of building a modern, democratic society and contributing to the construction of a state that respects the rights of the individual."