Morocco squanders a golden opportunity

OPINION - by Ahmed Bennis

We Moroccans love our King. It is a genuine and widely held feeling and so when the French Le Monde polled the public on the 10th anniversary of H M Mohammed VI's coming to the throne, it was no surprise that the results were wildly supportive with a more than 91% approval rating. Those are figures that most governments can only dream of and such poll results would normally be a public relations coup for a government and something to celebrate.

Yet, in a bizarre move, the Communications Minister, Khalid Naciri, announced that the poll results were not to be published.

"Any publication, be it foreign or Moroccan, that publishes the poll will be banned. Monarchy cannot be the subject of opinion polls and those who practice this sport are aware of the consequences."

Subsequently Moroccan authorities banned two magazines from newsstands this weekend after they published the results of the poll.

The official MAP news agency said the independent weeklies, Tel Quel, a French-language publication, and Nichane, an Arabic-language magazine, were seized for failing to respect the 1958 press code.

What is disturbing and disappointing about this entire fiasco is not only the application of the outdated 1958 press code, but the minister's handling of the affair has turned what should have been a public relations dream into a nightmare.

Khalid Naciri's intervention and comments have echoed around the world and been picked up and made into an international story. From major newspapers, television and radio through to blogs and twitters, the story of the banning has damaged Morocco's reputation.

Bloggers quickly began a campaign against the banning of the magazines and with pointed wit called it "9.5%".

Hopefully sanity will prevail and the extraordinary popularity of the King will not be clouded by further inept handling of the media by an out of touch government.