Understanding the Political System of Morocco
CHAPTER 16
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE KINGDOM OF MOROCCO
1. Introduction
The Arab Maghreb shows the late twentieth century as a region in transformation. The economic crisis and the young demographic structure of their populations have focused the attention of local authorities and the European view on the fragility of their political and social systems, a threat to Europe. Morocco, southern Spain’s neighbor par excellence, has been facing changes since the publication of its new 1996 Constitution, considered by some as the beginning of the transition to democracy.
2. Historical Background
Periphery of the core of civilization and territory arabo-Islamic desired by European powers since the nineteenth century. Before the Franco-Spanish protectorate over Morocco, the political and territorial organization depended on a sultan who held both political and religious power. Until the early twentieth century, the community or Umma Sultan delegated his powers while retaining the ability to revoke and appoint another. The doctrine states that the investiture of the ruler is, however, from God.
The origin of the power of the sultan, with support from the community of believers, was charismatic (grace) and was accompanied by an administrative organization that maintained control of the territory (the Makhzen: a system of social and political organization formed by the sultan, ministers, army, and civil servants).
The country’s territory was divided into two control areas: one in which the power of the sultan was acknowledged (Majzen country) and another that only recognized religious authority (land of dissidence). The army and the officials were from the first and maintained a patronage system in relations between the Sultan and local leaders regarded by some as feudal.
With the establishment of the Protectorate of Morocco, the French authorities and the Spanish, to a lesser extent, were concerned with order and representation abroad. Morocco was the last of the Maghreb countries to be colonized, and the territory was divided into three zones: French Protectorate, Spanish Protectorate, and the international zone of Tangier. The last sultan abdicated in 1912.
During the Protectorate, the figure of the Sultan and the Makhzen remained, but without government functions assumed by the Resident General French and Spanish. The Protectorate developed its own governing bodies and a new administrative organization that would be maintained once independence was achieved; it also facilitated the Makhzen’s better control of the territory.
2.1. The Survival of Traditional Power Structures
The maintenance of traditional structures means that nationalist leaders sought a break in the country’s history. In 1930, these leaders came together in the Moroccan Action Committee, whose objectives were to return to tradition and restore the Sultan.
In 1944, the Istiqlal party (the main pro-independence party) was formed, then the Committee, which radicalized its positions through the end of the protectorate in 1956. During this period, the figure of the Sultan lost some of its attributes, although it remained a vital tool during the struggle for independence.
In the new post-independence order, the principles inherited from the colonial period were incorporated into the new instruments of governance. However, the return to constitutional governance principles and organizing pre-Protectorate means that in the current political power structure, two different circles of power can be seen: one, traditional, in which the King is Sultan and prince of the believers, and another in which the King is the apex of a modern political-administrative system.
2.2. The Struggle Between the Monarchy and Political Forces for Hegemony in the Political Game
In 1956, Mohamed V was restored to the throne. The struggle for independence made the monarch a new source of legitimacy, further strengthened by the figure in front of the political forces who also aspired to power. The difficult relationship between the monarch and the leading party, Istiqlal, led to several divisions, which partially justified the multiparty system. This multi-party system was incorporated into domestic Moroccan political life, informally, with the 1962 Constitution, and established guidelines for the relationship between the monarch and political parties to the present.
Moreover, the existing bicephaly in the early years of independence still remains. On the one hand, the political system in force: the king and majzeriana structure, and across political parties participating in the executive and legislative institutions regulated by the Constitution.
The structure of government remains pyramid-like, so the Government and Parliament have eroded their powers, supervised by the Monarch, while civil society is controlled by the Makhzen.
The tensions between the monarch and opposition political forces have gone through two distinct stages:
- From Independence Until 1975, is a positioning strategy of political forces in order to monopolize or share power.
- Since 1975, the Saharawi question marked the monarch’s relationship with parties to construct a national unanimity on this issue led by the monarch. The same performance is observed with regard to the claims of Melilla and Ceuta.
3. The Constitutional Monarchy
In 1961, Hassan II acceded to the throne. As a full constitutional monarch, he granted a constitution and, with a clear intention of governance, decreed a state of emergency in 1965, making clear his willingness to personally deal with the government. In that constitution, Morocco is defined as a Muslim state whose form of government is a constitutional monarchy. Islam and the monarchy will be irrevocable features of a system characterized by:
- unlimited power of the monarch;
- existence of an Executive under the king, and
- existence of a weak Parliament due to a lack of legislative power and choice.
The modes of exercising real power belong to both the Moroccan tradition and the nation-state: a religious power, as Commander of the Faithful, joins its ownership of much of the regulatory power and the legislature (in periods when Parliament is not in session). Despite the sustained changes over constitutional experience, the current situation is very similar to the years immediately following independence.
The current monarch’s legitimacy comes from several sources:
- Khalifa or highest religious authority;
- Sultan or holder of earthly power;
- Cherif, graced with the divine as a descendant of Muhammad;
- constitutional legitimacy, which reaches the peak of the Moroccan political system;
- also seeks a new legitimacy based on the recovery of territory (Sahara) as an essential element of its foreign policy and enhancer of its role in domestic politics.
4. Constitutional and Political System
The precedents of Morocco’s first constitution (1962) are located in the attempt to draft a constitution in 1908, before the Protectorate. The characteristics of this Constitution are:
- never entered into force;
- reflects or represents the bases of constitutional order developed after independence;
- collected in a single law the organization of a model of government, the Islamic court with an apparent separation of powers between three main bodies:
- Sultan, supreme ruler, who would retain foreign policy and the endorsement of the decisions of other organs.
- The Council of Ministers, a Prime Minister chosen by the Sultan, who in turn elects its five ministers.
- The Advisory Council.
After independence in 1958, Mohamed V wrote a first Royal Charter which set out principles like the separation of powers, guaranteeing the fundamental rights of individuals and decentralization as the basis of legal-administrative organization. The Royal Charter was a series of reforms and the creation in 1960 of the Advisory Council to prepare a draft constitution submitted to the King and the people through referendum.
4.1. The Evolution of the Constitution
The adoption in 1962 of the draft Constitution prepared by the Advisory Council with the approval of the King and the People, but without the participation of political parties, led to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Morocco with the following changes:
- Constitution of 1962. The Kingdom of Morocco is part of the Greater Maghreb, as an African country seeking African unity and the maintenance of peace and world security. The three basic institutions are the monarchy (constitutional monarchy), the Government, and Parliament (bicameral). The Constitution was suspended for a state of emergency from 1965 to 1970.
- Constitution of 1970. Constitution of regression further reinforcing the powers of the monarch. It ends with a state of emergency. Amendment to the Parliament (unicameral). It reinforces the corporate nature of the state to be reflected in the basic order of unions and community councils. This model reinforces the institution Makhzen.
- 1972 Constitution. Constitution of standardization leads to a more liberal system. It restates the separation of powers, attempts to provide the Government and Parliament new powers, and seeks to democratize the country. It is the Constitution of longer life, and during its term, the opposition political parties, development of the Saharawi political and territorial integrity, and economic development plans emerged.
- 1992 Constitution. Without the support of political parties, the Constitution rehabilitates the legislature and strengthens Parliament through a new treatment model for laws: a limit of 30 days to enact laws, ordinary laws subject to constitutional control, no dissolution of the House of Representatives during a state of emergency, and strengthening the figure of the Prime Minister.
4.2. The Constitutional Reform of 1996
On 3 September 1996, the approval by referendum of a new constitutional reform was voted on by 99.5% of voters. It posed as a major modification, a new bicameral parliamentary system, with the strengthening of the territorial organization of the state into regions and their representation in the second chamber of parliament.
On this occasion, the contents of a memorandum prepared by the major political forces, united in a coalition or democratic Kutler. In that memorandum, they demanded greater transparency in electoral processes and the development of a bicameral parliament. Among the amendments in the last constitutional review include:
- the return to bicameralism;
- creation of a Court of Auditors and a Constitutional Court;
- recognition of freedom of entrepreneurship;
- a new operating procedure of the Government and Chambers: government responsibility, obligation to set out the Government’s agenda, approval by both houses of government bills.
The constitutional reform will remain dependent on royal initiative but can also be promoted by Parliament (supported by two-thirds of the House to promote changes to the subsequent approval of the other House).
This reform means a strengthening of the various powers:
- New Legislative Procedures
It extends the representativeness of Parliament with the creation of a second chamber, similar to the Spanish and French, but differing in the election process.
The discussion of the laws is the initiative of either House and is subject to the other and can even be studied by a joint committee. Laws are passed by a majority of the House of Representatives with the mediation of the Government in case of reluctance by the second chamber.
This second chamber has powers similar to those of the first: both share the ability to endorse international agreements, after approval by the King, and both can create investigative committees.
In the role of government control, the second House can only vote on a warning to the government or a motion of censure, which must be passed by one-third of its members, while the House of Representatives may have both a matter of trust and a motion of censure by a vote of one-fourth of its members.
- The Strengthening of the Executive
Government dominance of Parliament. The Government may object to any proposal or amendment that has not been discussed previously by a special commission. The Government organizes the agenda of discussions of both houses and can veto its discussions and laws.
The motion to censure the Government is unlikely to prosper; the majority needed a place in two stages (warning and motion), allowing time for a negotiated solution.
- The Renewal of the King’s Power
The King recovers powers of executive and legislative power: he can enact legislation, call for a referendum, request a new reading of a law already passed, or publicly address Parliament without the right to debate. If Parliament is not in session, the King may exercise the legislative powers of Parliament (except partially in the period since the election of a new House to its actual creation).
This constitutional reform seeks a global political reform of the system. The initiative for the King again, but was also a demand of the parties. It pursues its development alternating but is conceived in different ways: the King wants a given rotation, while the political parties want a democratic one.
Parties seek to democratize the system and focus their demands on the bicameral to strengthen government control and the role of Parliament in the legislative field, with a restriction of the powers of the King. Leaving aside issues such as an autonomous body to oversee the electoral process, a task that is in the hands of the Ministry of Interior.
5. Territorial Organization of the State
Regionalization since 1971 has become a focus of political debate in Morocco, aiming to make the region an essential element for the country’s development.
In 1967, the King presented the case for a map of economic regions to develop economic plans designed for the country. In 1971, the presentation of the Five-Year Plan considered the regionalization of the country, establishing a state body to support the regional economy and is designed to outline the functioning of the seven economic regions: a regional development pole around which centers are organized urban small and medium size, with a good communications network. The project will not succeed.
In 1983, a new approach to the region was presented, reconsidering the role of local institutions and community assemblies. Establishing a Regional Development Fund and starting a decentralization plan.
In 1992, again at the behest of the King, a regional organization was started that allows the development of the characteristics of each region without opposing the unity of the country, including Western Sahara.
In 1996, the King again explained to Parliament the place of the region for the development of the country, the economic differences between regions, and the effort required to overcome these differences. The actual proposal is reflected in 1997 with the decentralization law.
5.1. A New