The HACA plans to oversee coverage of Morocco's electoral campaign

24/08/2007

Morocco's High Authority for Audio-Visual Communication has spent weeks working with audio-visual operators to encourage balanced coverage of the September 7th legislative elections.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 24/08/2007

[Sarah Touahri] HACA President Ahmed Ghazali speaks at a press conference.

The electoral campaign for Morocco's September 7th legislative elections is scheduled to begin at 12 a.m. Saturday, August 25th and continue until 12 a.m. Thursday, September 6th. In the past weeks, the High Authority for Audio-Visual Communication (HACA) has worked with the media to ensure fair reporting during the campaign period.

At a conference on August 23rd, the HACA reported its plans to monitor all audio-visual programmes in an effort to ensure that political parties receive equal media access.

HACA President Ahmed Ghazali stated that during the course of the electoral campaign his department will control media broadcasts for quantitative and qualitative fairness. "The contents of news flashes and programmes must be controlled on an ethical level," he said.

The HACA's authority to oversee election coverage derives from a decision published in the May 25, 2007 official bulletin n° 14-07, which guarantees political pluralism in the media during the electoral period. The decision addresses audio-visual media as a public service and concerns all programmes dealing with party activities and election-related news, including news segments, televised journals, broadcast debates and print media.

The HACA divides political parties into three groups. The first, which is to receive 40% of all coverage, is comprised of organizations that currently have a parliamentary group. It includes the five majority parties (USFP, PI, RNI, MP and PPS) and three opposition parties (PJD, UC and PND). The second group, which is to receive 30% of all coverage, is composed of parties that currently have at least one member elected to parliament (30%). The third group, which is also to receive 30% of all coverage, is made up by parties that do not currently have a single member elected to parliament.

Ghazali expressed his optimism about the electoral campaign and reported that the pre-electoral campaign from July 13th to August 24th went well. "The HACA noted that audio-visual operators have generally interacted positively with the new legal and institutional framework that organizes audio-visual electoral communications and contributes to guaranteeing the citizen-elector free, pluralist and honest news," Ghazali said, "while assuring equal and consistent air time access for all the political parties participating in the legislative elections."

According to Noureddine Afaya, member of the HACA council, there has been a notable increase in the power of private radio in the electoral coverage, although many private operators have progressively respected decision n° 14-07. While private radio operators are not obliged to adhere to stipulations, Ghazali called upon stations covering the political action to participate in a way that respects equality and pluralism as much as possible.

The political parties themselves are also required to observe rules governing the electoral campaign, including the prohibition of buying voices and a ban on the use of public or religious funds and resources for their campaigns.