Morocco: New Government Begins Work On Reforms, Enhanced Democracy

Morocco: New Government Begins Work On Reforms, Enhanced Democracy

 By Morocco News Agency Staff

Rabat, Morocco --- January 10, 2012 ... After a weekend of well-earned relaxation, the members of Morocco’s new government are starting to work.

There are huge expectations at the grassroots which the new government in Morocco must now meet. For about two thirds of the cabinet ministers and minister delegates this is their first experience in government. Most of them have managerial and or academic expertise in the issues handled by their respective ministries. However, they lack the political experience which can be a huge benefit for launching reforms and enhancing democracy, but also a hindrance in getting programs implemented by the multi-layered government and regional bureaucracies.

Morocco Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane is convinced that the cabinet’s commitment to reform and democracy should override all other considerations.

“This new government has a true will for reform and we will keep all the promises we made,” he said.

The crux of the reform process is the restoration of the public’s meaningful participation and trust in the governance process. Meeting with leading politicians in Rabat, Benkirane stressed: “the new government’s foremost priority is to restore the citizens’ trust in the public authorities, foster the culture of dialogue among the various constituents of society and pay special attention to the vulnerable social segments.”

Benkirane and his leading ministers already began articulating their government’s initial goals.

They reiterated that the main challenges facing the new government in Morocco are a confluence of addressing domestic needs such as providing for employment and social protection, and meeting the national fiscal challenges by controlling public expenditures, the national deficit and developing new forms of financing the budget. 

“Issues relating to employment, social protection and the promotion of the national economy represent the main concerns of the new government,” explained Minister of Economy and Finance Nizar Baraka.

At the same time, he stressed, “a series of new measures will be undertaken at the financial, economic and social levels in order to enable the new government to carry out its priority programs.”

Industry, Trade and New Technologies Minister Abdelkader Aamara also foresees the imperative of greater national cohesion in order to meet the development challenges within a reasonable budget.
He considers the main challenges facing his ministry to be “how to continue the various initiated projects, and more cohesion and mobilization of all stakeholders in a participatory manner in order to meet the challenges of development and competitiveness.”

Although Benkirane effectively outlined the program of his government and articulated the guidelines for its policy - he now has to follow the formal process as stipulated by Article 88 of the Moroccan Constitution before the new government can actually govern.

Under Article 88 of the Constitution, the first official act of the Prime Minister in Morocco is presenting the detailed government statement to both Houses of Parliament. Subsequently, Benkirane will have to request in writing from the Speaker of the House of Representatives Karim Ghellab to determine the date of submission of the final government statement to Parliament for a formal vote of confidence. Only then can the government start working legally.

According to officials in Morocco, this formal process and vote of confidence will be completed within a week or so. Then, the traditional 100 days of grace will begin. Benkirane assured the leading politicians that he intends to use these 100 days of grace in order to introduce “100 steps” that would lead to the speedy implementation of the promised policies. Benkirane hopes to win the confidence of the Moroccan public through these initial steps.

Meanwhile, King Mohammed VI continues to maintain his tight grip on the new government and particularly regarding issues of great importance to Morocco’s foreign allies. Western senior diplomats in Rabat note that all the defense, security and financial portfolios remain in the hands of royalists.

Moreover, the Minister Delegates in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Interior - Youssef Amrani and Charki Draiss respectively - are two highly experienced expert senior officials who rose up in the ranks of the establishment and not the political world. They are likely to ensure continuity and pragmatism. As well, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Aziz Akhannouch retains his position from the previous government. Having resigned from his party - the royalist RNI - in order to retain his portfolio, he is now considered a technocrat appointment. Akhannouch’s is an extremely pragmatic and important nomination given the complexities of the current crisis negotiations between Morocco and the EU over fishery rights and agriculture export issues.

Driss Dahak retained his post in Morocco as Government Secretary-General.

“The post was given to Driss Dahak in order to block the advancement of legislation proposed either by Parliament or the Government and opposed by the King,” noted leading Moroccan politicians in Rabat.

“The King did not lose any control,” concluded Western senior diplomats.

“The King wants Benkirane to succeed, but not at the expense of harming the Kingdom.”

Morocco’s closest allies in Europe and the United States are extremely happy with this balance of powers in Rabat. 

Morocco: Benkirane's New Government Program for Democracy

Morocco: Benkirane's New Government Program for Democracy

 By Morocco News Agency Staff

Rabat, Morocco --- January 04, 2012 ... As a quintessential element of their coalition forming, the General Secretaries of the four parties in Morocco, Abdelilah Benkirane, Abbas El Fassi, Mohand Laenser and Nabil Benabdallah, jointly signed on December 16, 2011, a landmark document in the history of Moroccan politics: “The Charter of the Majority”.

The Charter is a contractual document that defines the scope of the joint action of the coalition’s partners and the basic principles of their government’s democratic program. With the swearing in of the new government by King Mohammed VI on January 3, 2012, the Charter of the Majority becomes a legal document of immense importance for it outlines and articulates the Benkirane government’s program and modus operandi.

The Charter of the Majority affirms that the new coalition government in Morocco is “committed to serving the supreme interests of the nation and to defending its sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of its people within the framework of respect for the sacred and immutable values of the nation and in accordance with the Constitution.”

To realize these objectives, the coalition irrevocably adopted four fundamental principles of government work: “joint action, efficiency in execution, transparency in management, and solidarity of responsibility.”

The Charter stipulates further that coalition members “are committed to work in a harmonious and united way” in order to “fully assume the government’s constitutional responsibility and solidarity, as well as the political management of public affairs.”

The Benkirane government will serve “while ensuring the implementation of the provisions of the new Constitution, in order to carry out more reforms and build the rule of law, freedom, justice and solidarity between the different components of the Moroccan people and different regions of the Kingdom.”

The Charter asserts that a major objective of the government is to restore the morality in political work and trust in public life by restoring faith and trust in the country’s institutions.

Toward this end, the government will fight resolutely “illegal practices and the cash economy in all areas related to the rights, dignity and freedom of citizens.”

The coalition is also committed “to promote its work within the legislative institutions and the government in order to contribute to the development and implementation of public policies while defending them with the seriousness and credibility required.”

The new government of Morocco is also “committed to improving institutional performance and policy in order to move forward in the practicing of democracy and good governance,” as well as “strengthen the momentum of reforms contained in the new Basic Law.”

Echoing the public’s yearning for Benkirane to be an all-Moroccan national leader practicing a “participatory approach” to governance - the Charter of the Majority stresses the coalition commitment to helping the opposition to play its role in the parliamentary system.

The Charter stipulates that the government “will work in cooperation and dialogue with the opposition in order to enable it to fulfill its the opposition’s constitutional and political obligations.” As well, the government “will engage in dialogue with all social-political forces in the nation in accordance with a dedicated approach to the consolidation of participatory democracy and the expansion of solidarity and national reconciliation.”

The government is dedicated to enhancing plurality and respecting differences of opinion.

Regarding the mechanism for implementing the Charter, the coalition parties in Morocco agreed to transform and up-grade the eight-member high-level high-power commission that originally formulated the Charter. The joint presidency of the governing coalition will remain an eight-member group except that it will now be comprised of the General Secretaries of the four parties and four senior members of the parties’ leadership selected by the General Secretaries.

The coalition leaders agreed that the presidency of the coalition would meet frequently with the Prime Minister acting as chairman. The primary role of the presidency of the coalition is “to monitor and evaluate the progress and performance of the majority, to examine all issues relating to the coalition, and to ensure cohesion and integration of government action and public policy.”

The Charter of the Majority commits the new government “to enshrine the democratic choice by expanding the space for freedoms and citizen participation, encouraging entrepreneurship, supporting mechanisms to ensure equal opportunities in society, by consolidating the role of women on the basis of equality, promoting youth participation in institutional life, as well as expanding media freedom, responsibility and creativity.”

The new coalition government in Morocco will publish an annual report to inform citizens of the progress carried out by the government and its future prospects.  

The coalition leaders thus present all Moroccans with a “contractual document” binding the government and the coalition to a self-imposed modus operandi and road map.

Benkirane and his partners are convinced that they are inaugurating a new era in the management of public affairs in Morocco in the spirit of the new Constitution and the King’s reforms process.

At stake is the country’s future.

Democracy In Morocco - New Government To Implement Reforms

Democracy In Morocco - New Government To Implement Reforms

By Morocco News Agency Staff

Rabat, Morocco --- January 3, 2012 ... After thirty-five days of arduous negotiations, Morocco has a new government. On January 3, 2012, Abdelilah Benkirane presented his selected ministers to King Mohammed VI for royal approval and swearing in. The ceremony took place in the Throne Room at the Royal Palace in Rabat.

The lengthy process of coalition negotiations and government forming in Morocco is bound to have tangible impact on the performance of both the government and PM Abdelilah Benkirane. 

There are huge expectations from the new government at the grassroots level. 

“Rarely in the political annals of independent Morocco has a government evoked so many hopes, expectations, promises and questions as Benkirane’s,” opined a leading Moroccan political observer. 

Most important is that the Benkiran government is the first to implement the provisions of the new Constitution. Since the Constitution was approved by an overwhelming majority in a referendum - there is widespread public commitment to its implementation. To a great extent, Benkirane was elected as the political leader most trusted to be able to undertake this task. Indeed, according to an early-December poll conducted by the LMS-CSA Institute - 82% of adult Moroccans have confidence in Benkirane’s ability to form a government that will implement the new Constitution and improve their personal and communal lot.

The vast majority of Moroccans now expect Benkirane to emerge as a national - rather than partisan-political - leader capable of ushering Morocco into a new era of modernization and democratization. 

For the public, Benkirane now represents “the apostle” of a “participatory approach” to governance. There is grassroots endorsement of the government’s decision to give high priority to justice, education, employment, housing and health care. This is a mighty challenge not only on its own, but particularly given the overall context of regional turmoil and global uncertainty. 

The Euro crisis and the global recession already have adverse impact on Morocco’s economy and society.  Benkirane takes office bearing the weight of a heavy responsibility to address difficult challenges while remaining attuned to, in the words of the leading Moroccan political observer: “the groans of the street and the vagaries of the economy”. 

The new government in Morocco will be facing many challenges. 

The Moroccan grassroots expect to quickly feel some progress in the five priority areas set by Benkirane: justice, education, unemployment, health and housing. These are, Benkirane repeatedly stated, “the strategic areas for improving the lives of all Moroccans.” 

Implementation constitutes mighty economic undertaking. In order to reduce unemployment and raise the standard of living, Morocco will have to markedly improve the growth rate of the GDP. At the same time, Morocco must ensure the medium-term sustainability of public finances in order to guarantee stability and continuity. Finding the delicate compromise is the main challenge facing the new coalition government in the immediate term. 

The solution advocated by the PJD during the election campaign - namely, recovering additional funds through “the fight against corruption, privilege and inequality, good governance and the reform of justice and administration” - will neither suffice nor deliver results in a timely manner. 

Hence, explains a senior PJD official, the real major challenge of the Benkirane government is to immediately commence “building a strong and sustainable economy, able to absorb the effects of the international crisis and cope with the ensuing economic constraints on wealth creation but not consumption.” 

Moreover, the members of the new government in Morocco cannot ignore the political reality that they will return to seeking public endorsement in the forthcoming local and regional elections, and, subsequently, in the next parliamentary elections. This means that in selecting the means to implement the social and economic program - the Benkirane government must not only abide by the guidelines of the new Constitution, but also ensure the sustenance of public support.

In accordance with the new Constitution, Benkirane must submit in the coming days his government’s program statement for the approval of both Houses of Parliament to be followed by a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives. 

Formally, this vote will complete the three elements required to ensure the “democratic change” process, explained the leading Moroccan political observer. The first element is “fair and transparent elections.” 

The November 25 parliamentary elections were unanimously recognized as such. The second element is “respect for the democratic rule in the constitution of the government and by entrusting the responsibility of the head of government to the party who obtained the largest number of seats.” 

The King’s selection and nomination of Benkirane, the leader of the party that won plurality, as the next prime minister of Morocco addressed this requirement.

The third element is setting “optimal implementation of the provisions of the new Constitution, especially in the direction of strengthening the powers of the prime minister and Parliament.” 

The presentation of the new government’s program for a vote of confidence will complete this requirement - thus setting Morocco on the path to further democratization.

The new Government of Morocco as appointed and sworn in by King Mohammed VI consists of: Abdelilah Benkirane: Prime Minister and Head of the Government, Abdellah Baha: State Minister, Mohand Laenser: Minister of the Interior, Saad-Eddine El Othmani: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, 

Mustafa Ramid: Minister of Justice and Liberties, Ahmed Toufiq: Minister of Entitlements and Islamic Affairs, Driss Dahak: Secretary-General of the Government, Nizar Baraka: Minister of Economics and Finance, Nabil Benabdellah: Minister of Housing, Town Planning and Urban Policy, Aziz Akhannouch: Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mohamed El Ouafa: Minister of National Education, Lahcen Daoudi: Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Executive Training, Mohamed Ouzzine: Minister of Youth and Sports, Aziz Rabbah: Minister of Equipment and Transport, El Hossein El Ouardi: Minister of Health, Mustapha El Khalfi: Minister of Communications, spokesman for the Government, Fouad Douiri: Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and the Environment, Abdelouahed Souhail: Minister of Labor and Vocational Training, Abdelkader Aâmara: Minister of Industry, Trade and New Technologies, Lahcen Haddad: Minister of Tourism, Bassima Hakkaoui: Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development, Mohamed Amine Sbihi: Minister of Culture, Abdessamad Qaiouh: Minister of Handicrafts, Lahbib Choubani : Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament and Civil Society, Abdellatif Loudiyi: Minister Delegate to the Head of the Government in charge of the Administration of National Defense, Abdellatif Maazouz: Minister Delegate to the Head of the Government in Charge of the Moroccans Living Abroad, Charki Draiss: Minister Delegate to the Interior Minister, Youssef Amrani: Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Mohamed Najib Boulif: Minister Delegate to the Head of the Government in charge of General Affairs and Governance, Abdelâdim El Guerrouj: Minister Delegate to the Head of the Government in Charge of Civil Service and the Administration Modernization and Idriss Azami Al Idrissi: Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economics and Finance in Charge of the Budget.

Morocco News Agency

Morocco Embraces Democracy As King Mohammed VI Appoints New Cabinet

Morocco Embraces Democracy As King Mohammed VI Appoints New Cabinet

By Morocco News Agency Staff

Rabat, Morocco --- January 3, 2011 ... King Mohammed VI of Morocco today appointed members of a new, diverse and democratic Cabinet. The Cabinet will be led by the Islamist Justice and Development Party ( PJD) leader and prime minister-designate Abdelilah Benkirane.

Benkirane's moderate Islamist party won the November 25 parliamentary elections.

“The King named the members of the new government at the royal palace in Rabat,” an official said.

The PJD has formed a coalition with the Istiqlal or Independence Party, which helped Morocco win its freedom from France in 1956 as well as the Popular Movement, a party of rural notables and the Party of Progress and Socialism of former communists.

"This new government has a true will for democracy and reform and we will keep all the promises we made," said Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane outside the palace after the swearing in.

"We will do everything to encourage foreign and domestic investment to create a climate of prosperity."

Morocco News Agency

Democracy In Morocco - Benkirane Optimistic Over Coalition Talks

Democracy In Morocco - Benkirane Optimistic Over Coalition Talks

 By Morocco News Agency Staff

Rabat, Morocco --- January 3, 2012 ... Cognizant of the growing impatience in the public and media, Morocco’s PM-designate Abdelilah Benkirane sought to calm down the doubters about the progress in the coalition negotiations toward the composition of his government.

Addressing a Party meeting in Rabat, Morocco, Benkirane reiterated that he was “optimistic” about the formation process of the new Cabinet.

Benkirane explained that the government forming process in Morocco was taking so long because it is a precedent-setting undertaking that, in view of the historic significance of the implementation of the new Constitution, involves the entire Moroccan nation and not just the leaders of the four parties of the coalition.

“The completion of this democratic process will be accomplished with the contribution of all Moroccans committed to unity and solidarity under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, and who are anxious to achieve reform and good governance of public affairs,” Benkirane declared.

He assured that the composition of the government will be announced “in due time.”

The Justice and Development Party and the other three coalition partners, Benkirane stressed, are “on the threshold of a new stage” in Morocco’s governance which “requires us to make additional efforts and be innovative to meet the needs of the people in action and not in words.”

Referring to the members of the future Cabinet in Morocco, Benkirane emphasized that all candidates have been “asked to demonstrate their expertise and their capacity for good management” before being considered for a position.

At the same time, Benkirane refused to address, or even allude to, the speculations prevailing in the Moroccan media and blogosphere about the identity of specific ministers and the personnel-related reasons for the delays in completion the government.

Benkirane insisted he was “not aware” of the “list of ministers” floated in the media and assured his audience that the real and authoritative list will be disclosed “at the appropriate time” - that is, when the Cabinet is presented to the King in order to get his formal endorsement.

Eventually, Benkirane did acknowledge that he was putting the finishing touches on the composition of the Cabinet and trusts that the presentation of the new, democratic government would take place in the immediate future.

Morocco News Agency 

In Morocco, Pressure Increases For Benkirane To Form Government

In Morocco, Pressure Increases For Benkirane To Form Government

By Morocco News Agency Staff

Rabat, Morocco --- December 28, 2011 ... As anticipated, the recently appointed Prime Minister of Morocco, Abdelillah Benkirane and his coalition partners - Abbas El Fassi, Nabil Benabdallah and Mohand Laenser - are discovering the complexities and length of meaningful, democratic, coalition and government forming negotiations. 

Although their reaching of agreement on joint policies toward the key economic and democratic issues facing Morocco was indeed the main and most important challenge to be met, addressing and resolving the precise personnel issues are far more multi-faceted and thus lengthy undertakings. And herein the Moroccan coalition negotiations are snarled.

There is some unease in political Rabat about the prolonging of the process. Observers point out that Benkiran repeatedly expected the government composition process to be completed “soon” and so informed the media. 

A month after the November 25 parliamentary elections, political observers in Morocco are beginning to lose patience. 

At the same time, tension begins to appear among senior politicians of the four coalition parties. The aggregate impact of the unknown and the lingering personal feuds over positions and nominations is beginning to show. 

Passed-over politicians, particularly veteran local-region politicians, who had resigned to being left out of the government, are increasingly using the overall impasse to pull strings and rely on personal connections in order to make last ditch attempts to improve their lot and perhaps still get a nomination. These individual efforts further tarnish the protracted government forming process.

However, the most recent negotiations rounds in Rabat were not futile. The negotiators made significant progress in finalizing the structure of the Benkirane government. Presently, Morocco’s next government is expected to have 27 or 28 ministers instead of the 29-30 ministers originally envisaged by Benkirane.

Benkirane’s Justice and Development Party will have ten or eleven portfolios, the Independence Party will have six portfolios, and both the Popular Movement and the Progress and Socialism Party will each have four portfolios. In addition, the Government will include three “ministries of sovereignty” - the Secretariat General of the Government (SGG), the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs - that will be run by individuals of impeccable professional credentials rather than political affiliation. 

Ultimately, Benkirane is also coming under pressure from legal developments. 

Last Friday, December 23rd, eleven ministers of the outgoing government submitted their resignation to the King in order not to lose their parliamentary mandate as elected Members of the next Parliament. Law in Morocco stipulates that such resignation must be submitted within a month after the parliamentary elections. 

Driss Dahak, the current SGG, formally contacted these ministers and asked them to submit their resignation letters to the King, and the ministers were quick to follow Dahak’s instructions. This means, however, that in the absence of a new government - there are no substitute ministers for these portfolios and deputies and senior bureaucrats now act as de-facto interim ministers. This development only increases the pressure on Benkirane to complete the composition of his government. 

Morocco News Agency

As World Celebrates Christmas, Morocco Embraces Democracy, Coalition Forms

As World Celebrates Christmas, Morocco Embraces Democracy, Coalition Forms

By Morocco News Agency Staff

Rabat, Morocco --- December 25, 2011 ... On Saturday morning, December 24, Morocco’s Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane announced that major progress had been achieved in the coalition negotiations and that the specific ministerial portfolios to be allocated to the coalition’s four parties would be unveiled within the next couple of days.

“The question of allocation of portfolios should be resolved in one or two days,” Benkirane said. 

The new Prime Minister of Morocco said that he expects the pace of negotiations to accelerate because “things are more clear” for the other three coalition parties. He plans to soon name “the eligible candidates for the portfolios” for the next government. 

Benkirane expects to complete the composition of the new cabinet in Morocco in “the coming days.” Benkirane stressed that the leaders of the four parties were tackling the final touches to the government’s ministerial team. “The announcement of the new government is expected soon,” he concluded.

As expected by analysts, the coalition and government forming negotiations are proving more challenging and complex than originally anticipated by the leaders of the four coalition parties. While the key policy issues in Morocco have been agreed to and common approaches were agreed upon - inner-party squabbling continues within the leaderships of the four parties. Aspirant individuals are pulling strings to reach higher positions on the basis of their party-political past rather than professional qualifications for ministerial positions. Benkirane, however, warned all party leaders that candidate ministers must be nominated on the basis of their expertise and professional capabilities.

According to a senior official of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), the party’s leadership comprehends the position of the designated prime minister. 

“Abdelilah Benkirane wants a strong government, composed of real skills and effective democracy. The PJD knows that there are enormous challenges ahead, and many expectations to be met. All this can only be possible if the proposed ministers are effective,” the official explained. This focus on the expertise and quality of candidate ministers inevitably results in the emergence of inner-party pressure-groups that must be tackled, addressed and resolved.

The situation is not different in the other coalition parties. Abbas El Fassi, Nabil Benabdallah and Mohand Laenser are known to be under pressure to follow more narrow partisan calculations rather than performance criteria. Most of the criticism is directed at the venerable Istiqlal Party because of its inability to disengage from its die-hard old habits. “Patronage, regionalism, favoritism: they are the only criteria that match the choices made by El Fassi,” complained one of the party’s young educated leaders.

All the members of the eight-member high-level high-power commission responsible for developing the government’s joint program in Morocco are cognizant of the magnitude of the challenge. “Consequently, we have to decide, resolve and arbitrate. The task promises to be painful,” noted a senior politician from one of the coalition parties. 

The politician believes Benkirane must have realized that he had committed to the completion of a government “too fast and too soon” and must now adjust his time-tables pragmatically. Benkirane will now work closely with all leaders of the coalition to negotiate the final composition of the government. 

“Negotiations will be sharper on the distribution of portfolios. This is always difficult to do - all the more so if four concessions are required,” the senior politician observed.

Ultimately, senior leaders and politicians of all the coalition parties are in agreement that the main hurdles concerning the composition of Morocco’s next government have been successfully overcome. 

Resolving the outstanding differences is only a question of time. Since all four parties committed to the success of the new Benkirane-led government and the implementation of the new Constitution - their respective leaders and senior members will rise to the occasion and will make the necessary adjustments to expedite the completion of the coalition negotiations. 

Whether it will take the “one or two days” Benkirane predicted or a bit longer is a different matter though.

The Morocco News Agency takes this opportunity to wish all of its Christian readers a healthy, peaceful and Merry Christmas. May we all celebrate life with respect, tolerance and understanding for one another.

 "Let there be no compulsion in Religion." (Sura 2:257).