Let’s All Imagine

2007 will be election’s year in Morocco. The actual government is a wide-coalition government composed of right wingers, independents, and left wingers. Speculations have already started about which party is the favorite to win the majority in the parliament and thus to be in a position of “power”. It seems like the right wing religious Party of Justice and Democracy (PJD) is the big favorite. Western and local liberal observers are skeptic about the image of tolerance the PJD is trying to project and have doubts about the actual intentions of the PJD. The PJD has already been in the middle of too many controversies over the past few years that threw even more shade on its political agenda. However this paranoia over what would happen if the Islamist party was to be in power by next year is highly unjustified taking into account that the Moroccan constitution doesn’t allow much field of action to the government. There have been some talks about constitutional amendments with the aim to give more power to the government which implies less power for the king. The prospect of such a radical change seems at hand reach if the rumors about the king himself being for such amendments are confirmed. But to what extent is king willing to give up power knowing that any constitutional amendment would be almost impossible without his consent? This question is hard to answer by anyone except for the king himself. However, I invite you all to think of what’s wrong with our constitution and what changes should be made to make it “better”?

I imagine a secular Morocco where the state doesn’t have a say on personal matters such as religion. I also imagine a Morocco where finally its majority ethnic group would be duly recognized in the constitution as part of the Moroccan identity and not as a folklore. I imagine a Morocco where everyone would be subject to criticism and therefore would be responsible for his/her actions. I imagine a Morocco where on election’s day Moroccans would elect their own prime minister who would be in charge of managing the daily life and problems that the Moroccan society faces. A prime minister that would have the right to compose his own government as he sees fit for the mission he was elected for. I imagine a government working for the Moroccans and the betterment of daily life independently and autonomously from any royal commission. I imagine a Morocco where the king would be a judge and not a party; A king that would act as the protector of the new Morocco and not as its “owner”. I imagine the Moroccan society more knowledgeable about its rights and of course its obligations. I imagine a more transparent Morocco and a more prosper Morocco. I also imagine a freer and responsible Moroccan press that doesn’t publish just about anything in the name of the freedom of the press.

All of this and more is totally feasible if we believe. As the saying goes, “Every Generation Needs a Revolution”

El Morro