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| Volume VIII, June 2001, Number 2 |
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| ABSTRACT: Fresh Start for Morocco |
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| Marvine Howe |
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Ms. Howe was formerly a
correspondent for The New York Times.
King Mohammed VI, who came to power after the death of his
father, Hassan II, on July 23, 1999, has inherited a complex legacy. Morocco is
generally respected by world powers as a stable constitutional monarchy engaged
in the democratic process. But beneath its peaceful, progressive façade the
country continues to be plagued by overwhelming problems of corruption and
poverty, unemployment and social inequities.
Even so, 37-year-old Mohammed VI is enjoying a prolonged
honeymoon and appears more popular than ever. The young monarch seems to be
trying to undo or make up for abuses of the past and open a new era of national
reconciliation. Among his most
audacious acts was the removal of the all-powerful minister of interior, and
the release of the Islamist leader Abessalam Yassine after 11 years under house
arrest. King Mohammed retained his father's choice of Prime Minister,
opposition leader Aberrahmane Youssoufi, a veteran human-rights activist.
Youssoufi took office in 1998 with a far-reaching program of social, economic
and political reform. But his administration has been hamstrung from the outset
by a fossilized bureaucracy and a large unwieldy coalition government.
While public frustration mounts over the slow pace of
reforms, the young king and the Socialist prime minister, have transformed
Morocco's image from an autocratic policed regime to a more open participatory
society. Nowhere else in the Arab world
has the public mood changed so dramatically in so little time and citizens
acquired such extensive freedoms of press, speech and assembly. Progress towards a democratic society,
however, has not been easy. Demonstrations by Islamist and human-rights
organizations have been banned and activists detained. The government closed
down three independent weekly newspapers for publishing a letter implicating Youssoufi in the failed 1972 military coup against
King Hassan. Mohammed VI renewed his support for Youssoufi, who denied the
allegation, and the newspapers reappeared, but the government's democratic
image has been tarnished.
Nonplussed by critics, the prime
minister speaks confidently of his government's achievements and plans for the
future. Acknowledging concern over the prolonged drought, he notes that famine
has been avoided and the livestock saved. He emphasizes the importance of
development projects, recently launched by his government and the new National
Charter for Educational Reform. But the touchstone of Youssoufi's program, the
Plan for the Integration of Women, has run into difficulties. Coalesced against the plan are moderate
Islamic groups, religious scholars, the Islamist opposition, even Socialists.
Much to the chagrin of the women's movement, the government turned the controversial plan over to the king.
Mindful of growing Islamist influence, Mohammed VI set up a commission,
including Islamic theologians, magistrates and women activists to revise the
civil-status code in accordance with Islamic law.
The Islamist movement has benefited from the inability of the main political
parties in government to live up to their promises and enjoys serious hopes of
acceding to power democratically. The real moment of truth will come with
national elections in 2002 -- the first significant test of Morocco's democratic
experiment.
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