USFP allocates 20 percent quota to women in the party's leading bodies
Morocco, Politics, 4/2/2001

The Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) wound up its sixth congress this Monday early in the morning by the adoption of a General Declaration.

The closing session was marked by the announcement of the 185 members of the party's national administrative commission that will meet later on to elect the 21 members of the political bureau.

All the outstanding figures of the party were elected to the administrative commission, mainly Abderrahmane Youssoufi, Mohamed El-Yazghi, Abdelouahed Radi, Mohamed Lahbabi, Fathallah Oualalou, Mohamed Guessous, Habib Cherkaoui, Mohamed Achaari, Bensalem Himmich, Mustapha Ktiri, Al-Hassan Boukantar, Habib Malki, Mohamed Mansour, Khalid Alioua, Abdelkadfer Baina, Driss Lachgar, M'barek Abbes Boudarka and Mohamed Ait kaddour

In implementation of the congress decision to allocate a 20 percent quota to women in the party's leading bodies, 37 women were elected to the 185-member commission. These include Aicha Belarbi, Nouzha Chekrouni, Amina Ouchaleh, Badia Sekkali, Fatoum Kodama, Fatima Belmoudden, Wafaa Hajji.

394 candidates, including 73 women, had ran for the election to the administrative commission.

In the General Declaration, the congress said that the USFP was right when it made the decision to participate in the alternation experience and that "thanks to this experience and the precious royal support it enjoys, reformist forces have the opportunity to engage the democratic process on an irreversible path."

The document added that the coming phase must start a new institutional, political and partisan frame on the basis of several reforms which must cover the functioning of the legislative body to overcome the slowness of the two chambers' action, enlarge the prerogatives of the parliament through the setting up of a permanent commission that will monitor public institutions, and the consolidation of the Prime Minister's power and responsibility.

On Morocco's territorial integrity, the Declaration said the obstacles erected by the separatists to the implementation of the UN settlement plan evidence a hostile stand to the overture of the Maghreb region on a new situation and that the other side has not responded positively to the demand of the UN secretary general's personal representative for the Sahara, James Baker.

The USFP reaffirms in this respect that "the Moroccan democratic regime which rules the power hierarchy on our country and its distribution at the central, regional and local levels represents an adequate frame for a democratic integration of all the Sahrawis who are attached to their homeland under Moroccan sovereignty, the leadership of its sovereign, its national unity and territorial integrity."

On the economic scale, the declaration recommends the creation of new implements to energize investments and the exportation policy to foster Moroccan economy competitiveness at the Mediterranean level and urges that at the social level, the State policy must be geared towards the settlement of the problems of unemployment, education, youth, vocational training, and illiteracy and that the private sector must participate in the undertaking.

The Congress also recommended that the State adopts the 20 percent quota in granting decision-making posts within the administration as well as at the level of parliamentary and local representative bodies and called for reforming the personal statute code and for granting more opportunities to women at the economic, social and political levels.

The Declaration deplored the paralysis of structures of the Arab Maghreb Union and the absence of a clear-cut political resolve to overcome juncture difficulties and initiate a new process on the basis of brotherhood and neighborliness.

The Congress on the other hand renewed unconditional support to the Palestinian authority and to its leader Yasser Arafat and backing to the Intifada waged by the heroic Palestinian people who are defending their legitimate right to establish an independent state with Al-Quds as its capital.

The USFP congress likewise voiced solidarity with the Iraqi people and with all Islamic peoples struggling for freedom and dignity.

The congress, the first one in more than ten years after the 5th congress in 1989, was attended by some 1,600 participants, but some militants of the party and unionists from la Conf?d?ration D?mocratique du Travail (CDT), a trade union close to the USFP set up in 1978, have withdrawn from the congress "in view of the climate that prevailed during the preparation of the congress."

These militants told reporters they are not splitting from the party and said they have "no personal problem with Youssoufi who is successfully managing the alternation experience." They said they will carry on their struggle to reform the party and "preserve its force, identity and values," and called for the holding of an extraordinary congress the soonest possible.

The USFP, which is currently leading a coalition government that was formed in 1998, bringing to power center-left parties after decades of right-wing rule, has 55 deputies at the 325-member House of Representatives (lower house of the parliament) and 13 members at the 270-member Chamber of advisors (upper house).

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan civil service minister ends visit to Britain   (3/31/2001)
  Morocco's upper chamber delegation talks in Washington focuse on economic and Sahara issues   (3/31/2001)
  Moroccan-French talks over preparations of joint commission meeting   (3/31/2001)
  USFP may hold biennial congress, spokesman   (3/31/2001)

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