Today: A Step Forward or A Step Backward
Today’s Atlantic offers an excellent analysis of the process of reform in Morocco. Editor Max Fisher comments that in each reform rests the potential for true, further reform or for a commitment to the status quo. What happens today will be a true commentary on Morocco’s path to reform over the years since its independence, the fortitude of King Mohammed VI and the willingness of the Moroccan people to accept gradual change.
“Allowing the king to lead Morocco’s transition away from a system that benefits him most, while a far more stable process than the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, is risky. Ostensibly, today will begin Morocco’s first step toward a democratic, constitutional monarchy. If all goes as planned, Morocco could become the great, quiet success story of the Arab Spring: the only country to democratize in partnership with, rather than despite, the government. But if the process stalls — whether because Mohamed VI loses his will, because democratic institutions fail, or, most likely, because the reforms are not enough to truly democratize — then Morocco will have quietly stifled its protest movement, making it one of the great failures of the Arab Spring. Whichever happens, Morocco’s path will be, as always, uniquely, exceptionally Moroccan.“
