1. Theoretical debate: Overview
5.3 Description of the websites
5.3.1 Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya Party
2. Who is the initiator and responsible for the websites?
3. What are the targeted audiences of the websites?
4. What are the functionalities- information, interactive communication and networking of the websites?
5.3.1.1 The website of Al-Islah Screen shot 1: The website of Al-Islah
On November 15th, 2003, the At-Tauhid Wal-Islah (hereafter Al-Islah) movement173 established its website. The inauguration of the website http://www.islah.ma served a number of purposes. The website provides many layers of archived general information about the history of the organization, including the organization’s own position and interpretation of its historical origin.174 The website also provides core principles of the organization, the organization’s structure, key goals, methods of action and activities. Most of these information materials are in Arabic and are not updated since the inception of the website.175 The website of Al-Islah focuses on its ideology by promoting ideological conversion.
173 For more detail about the movements see chapter 3.
174 This was designed to “correct” the regime’s official interpretation of the movement’s historical development. The organization put out information that contradicts and thus undermines the official version and explanation of the history of the movement.
175 The webmaster promised a French version of this website.
In terms of communication and interactivity, the website of Al-Islah incorporates online surveys and interactive opinion polls where users can express opinions. The uses of polling techniques online remain problematic in terms of scientific reliability and are of modest quality. The questions used are generally designed to reinforce the pre-exiting political position of the organization. The results of these polls are made available and are commented.
The website of Al-Islah established an electronic discussion forum, bulletin boards and discussion groups dedicated to many subjects such as headscarf in France and Islam in Islam-minorities countries. The discussion forums are moderated. The website contains an e-mail list that serves to share information through frequent e-mail notices that are designed to lead the supporter back to the website. Mechanisms that allow website visitors to send information to like-minded friends are also available.
The website invites visitors and surfers to sign up to receive campaign e-mail and information updates by e-mail. In addition, the website requestes feedback from the visitors, asking them to express their opinions on, for example, how they found the website. A polling feedback mechanism is in place, but the website failes to provide audio resources.
In terms of networking the website of Al-Islah includes links for a wide range of Islam-oriented organizations, preachers and activists such as At-Tajdid, Islamonline, Sheikh Qardawi and Amr Khaled.
5.3.1.2 The website of Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya
Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya began its Internet activity in 2002 by launching an extensive website (http://www.pjd.ma/arabe/index.asp).176 The website had multiple features:
Biographical and contact information about the leadership of the party, parliamentarians and candidates.177
Screen shot 2: The website of Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya
176 All big political parties have established a web presence during the election campaign of 2002. The last general election acted as a major stimulus for parties to move online. Currently, at the national level, there are over 20 parties with a website ranging from the familiar parliamentary parties to organizations that have little or no presence outside cyberspace. The following parties launched websites during the election campaign: Alliance of Liberties (A.L.), http://www.adl.ma; At-Tajdid wa Al-Insaf, http://www.pai-maroc.org/index.asp; Citizens' Forces, http://forcescitoyennes.net/index.htm; Istiqlal Party, http://www.istiqlal.ma; Party for Progress and Socialism (PPS), http://www.pps.ma; Party Al-Ahd, http://www.harakamp.org.ma/; Popular Movement (PM), http://www.harakamp.org.ma/; Socialist Union of Popular Forces (SUPF), http://users.mtds.com/~usfp/, Unified Socialist Left Party (USLP), http://www.gsu.ma.
177 The party website had a horizontal banner at the top (stretching across the entire width of the screen) with a photograph of the party’s historical leader, Abdelkrim El-Khatib, the party’s name and slogan.
The website of the party also prominently displayed many layers of archived information, including a few pages about the history of the party and core rules, the versions of party charters, declaration of principles of the party. A draft statement of the party’s political standpoints and party activities were also available. Information at the website generally echoes the party’s speech material, the substance which is left unreported by the traditional media. The website is updated on a regular basis, responding to important social and political events or demonstrations.
Through their online presence, the organization aims to reach a wide audience and make Moroccans learn about its principles and objectives. The website provides contact information in the form of services telephone numbers and general e-mail address to contact the organization.
The party website has links to two other websites. While the first link leads to the website of At-Tajdid, the party’s newspaper, the second one links the website of the parliamentarian, Rachid Medouar.
5.3.1.3 The election website of Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya party
Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya party conducted its election campaign not only in the streets and on TV but also in cyberspace.178 In addition to the normal party website, which was geared to reach a wide audience, the Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya set up an independent, separate election website http://www.pjd.ma/arabe/elec2002.asp, specifically devoted to the election campaign. The architecture of the election website reveals that it aims at reaching their audiences, including specific audiences, members and sympathizers.
178 As a political party, Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya was granted access like other political parties to the national TV to present its programs.
Screen shot 3: The election website of Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya party
The election website provides a range of information concerning the party’s parliamentary candidates. The party posts election platforms, candidate and constituency listings as well as manifestoes and regulations concerning the election. The website provides a variety of types of information to visitors, including those frequently found in printed campaign brochures as well as those unlikely to be readily available in print. A lengthier description of the party’s political program is likewise provided in Arabic and French. The website’s archive offers visitors a section explicitly devoted to the organization’s stand on a selection of political issues. However, the election website focuses on electorcal victory rather than on promoting ideological conversion.
The website has a campaign calendar of future events at constituency and regional levels, conferences and public meeting times of candidates. The website is hence often used to advertise meetings and other events and to publish the declarations and activities of party spokespersons. The election website provides a chance for “informed” voters to see what the candidates themselves are saying about the issues and their stands on these issues.
Position papers and fact sheets addressing a number of issues are available from the electoral website. There are also complete transcripts of press conferences and speeches.
What is striking is that the website has not yet integrated these materials in audiovisual formats. The election website quite often offers basic issue statements about what the party
stands for and what it intends to do. The information presented here is selectively targeted to constructed publics.
Unlike the party website, the election website included content in French, yet the website has no complete version in any foreign language. In terms of communication, e-mail addresses are not common features on the election website.
5.3.1.4 The website of a parliamentarian: Rachid Medouar
Not all candidates of the Al-Adala Wat-Tanmiya party used the Internet in the election campaign of 2002, yet Rachid Medouar candidate for parliamentary office began to use the Internet as a campaign tool with immense communication capabilities. He was the first and until 2004 the exclusive Moroccan politician who adopted an electronic campaign candidate website http://www.parlementaire.ma.179 In his website, he describes himself as the “first cyber-politician and parliamentarian on the Internet in Morocco”.
The website of the parliamentarian opens with a personal image of Rachid Moudar.180 The candidate explains to the visitors the reasons why he established this website. According to Rachid Medouar, the adoption of a campaing website is useful because:
“The Internet will give the voter the chance to participate through their suggestions and questions concerning laws and policies. The contact with a segment of citizens will be easy and better through the Internet, will broaden consultancy possible with expert and interested in legislative activities, and will make it possible for researchers and journalists to follow the activities of the parliamentarian”.181
The website focuses on the person of Rachid Medouar by providing his profiles and other specialized information. To tout his personal qualifications, two biographies are identified on the website. As stated on the homepage, Rachid Medouar launched the
179 What is striking is that not all Islam-oriented political candidates use Internet campaigning techniques.
After speaking with some parliamentarians, they show interest in adopting the Internet technologies in the parliamentary camping in the coming years.
180 By tapping at the domain address, users can hear an audio-clip.
181 Rachid Medouar, Member of the Moroccan Parliament, personal interview with the author, December 9, 2001, Rabat, Morocco.
website “to provide voters with information about the parliamentarian himself”.182 The website of the parliamentarian contains a schedule of upcoming events. The purpose, according to the parliamentarian, is to “alert supporters to my appearances”.183
Screen shot 4: The website of a parliamentarian: Rachid Medouar
The candidate’s website provides retrievable archive containing extensive information on the major aspects of the election, yet the most important sections of Rachid Medouar’s campaign website are his many interviews with Moroccan newspapers and magazines and an archive of his publications.
The ways in which Rachid Medouar’s website offers information that substantiates his issue positions are similar to that of the election website. For each of these issues position, he offered detailed explanation of what he will do. The website features the content only in Arabic. This signals that the websites directs its appeal to his local clientele.
The parliamentarian website has e-mail contact possibilities. By providing campaign e-mail address under a public account, Rachid Medouar encourages people to contact him.184 In terms of online political interactivity, Medouar promises to devote some hours on weekly basis to directly communicate through e-mails and chat-rooms. For him, the Internet is “a constantly developing communication medium, which affords today’s
182 http://www.parlementaire.ma/texte/intervieux/tajdidsahafa.htm.
183 http://www.parlementaire.ma/index2.htm.
184 The e-mail account: medouar@majliss-annouwab.ma.
political candidates a diverse array of new ways to disseminate information, to engage in networking and persuasion, and to strategically campaign in the political arena”.185
To enhance his website, Rachid Medouar includes some links to other related organizations. The links indicate and emphasises the nature of his affiliations.
5.3.1.5 The website of At-Tajdid
At-Tajdid (http://www.attajdid.press.ma) is an information and news website and was established in 1999 as an extension of the party’s newspaper.186 The website describes itself as an “independent news and information website”, which provides news and detailed information and analysis of developments in Morocco from an Islamic perspective.187
The website is organized almost in the same structure as the print version.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the content of this website is largely the same as that presented in their print sibling. As Mohamed Yatime said:
“It was simply another avenue for reaching an online audience and for providing the public with high-quality information”.188
185 Medouar, personal interview.
186 At-Tajdid has now a new Internet address: http://www.attajdid.ma.
187 http://www.attajdid.press.ma.
188 Yatime, personal interview.
Screen shot 5: The website of At-Tajdid
Information is the most highly valued feature of the website. The website serves as an archive of past issues of the newspaper and also is characterized by its tight focus on Islamic issues and on many international key issues. According to a Moroccan journalist, the website is among the most excellent general sources of political information on the Internet in Morocco.189 The website features an extensive collection of news articles from the print version including a chronological listing of essays and reports about current political and social issues.
Beyond this media-related information, the only other content on this website is a summary of the religious credo of the organization. According to Mustapha Alkhalfi:
“A myriad of cultural products posted on the webite of the newspaper was created by activists, movement and party members, Islam-orientd cultural organizations, artists, writers and intellectual in solidarity, and others tied to the Islam-oriented movements’ networks”.190
All information offered in this newspaper website is in Arabic. The website offers a photo gallery and downloadable images that users can include on their own websites.
189 Anas Mezzour, journalist of the Arabic weekly Al-Ayyam, personal interview with the author, December 13, 2001, Casablanca, Morocco.
190 Alkhalfi, personal interview.
In addition to these examples of top-down information dissemination, the website also facilitates real time discussion forums and chat rooms that are specifically aimed at generating discussion and debate amongst readers, visitors and members. The website of At-Tajdid has an e-mail system for contact.191