The Arab Times Kuwait
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
WHEN international institutions advise African nations to take a cue from the Moroccan experience in the fields of economic and industrial diversification, it requires deep thought because a country regarded as developing was able to take a giant stride within a decade.
The achievement was made possible due to the consistent performance of King Mohammad V1, internally or externally. The King encouraged international companies, especially those involved in vehicle assembly, to move some of their productions to the Kingdom, so it helped in solving several economic problems.
Since his ascendancy to power, the youthful King took several steps, different from the lines toed by governments in other countries. This is due to his belief that facing a problem squarely is the best way to solve it. For instance, he made the issue of returning into the fold of African Union a paramount objective, but with the need to maintain national norms and rights. He worked on this assiduously until Morocco entered the golden gate of the African continent. He was able to change the position over a thorny issue in African-Moroccan relations – the Sahara issue.
He worked towards opening the doors of his Kingdom to tourism such that the country became a major point of call on the world map. This coincides with massive development projects, particularly in the area of clean energy.
He paved the way for increasing foreign investments which attracted several entrepreneurs from the Arabian Gulf. This is in addition to building political and economic partnerships within the Arab world. He succeeded in bringing Morocco closer to GCC countries, better than any time in the past.
All this was for the sake of offering more opportunities to the people and enhancing social stability as the backbone of security and political stability. Furthermore, the more coherent the internal front is, the more difficult to penetrate it.
King Muhammad VI was the first among the leaders who responded to the demands of his people at the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring when he ordered amendment and modernization of laws and the Constitution.
The achievements of King Muhammad VI aroused the envy of some neighboring countries which did not wish good for Morocco due to differences in visions, approaches and political regimes. The political regime in Morocco is democratic, while dictators are dominating the neighboring countries. Everybody is aware of countless attempts to penetrate the Moroccan internal front led by those regimes. Nevertheless, all these malicious attempts failed due to the special relationship between the Moroccan people and their ruler.
This special relationship is based on the common belief that nobody is above Morocco. The uprising against French colonialism in the 1950s is a big witness of that special relationship. At the time, the colonialist authorities deposed the late King Muhammad V and the revolution lasted until the occupation and the return of the King who was received by all the people.
Morocco continued supporting Arab issues. It was the first supporter of the Algerian revolution against French colonialism. It was Morocco that formed the main base for supplying the needs of Algerian revolutionists. This support extended to the Palestinian issue and the Jerusalem Committee headed by the late King Hassan II.
These historical positions prompted an observer to look at what some neighboring countries are attempting to do to serve the devil, not for Arab solidarity and to maintain good neighborliness. Based on that, we cannot deduce what is happening in Al-Hoceima, far from the historical facts which we have pointed out because it will do injustice to the Kingdom and the monarchy, and not to recognize what the Kingdom has achieved.
Since the beginning of the recent incidents, the royal directives were clear – listen to the demands of protesters and to work towards implementing what is consistent with the Constitution and the laws, not to yield to what can be a window for realizing the dreams of strangers so chaos does not sneak in. Without a doubt, the people of Morocco know very well their national duty to overcome attempts to shake up their stability.
Morocco is the father of stability and well-being, so the risk to gamble with these national resources through obedience of the minority to outside forces is like committing suicide especially if the matter contradicts with the deep-rooted Moroccan culture, history, humanity, nature and universal norms of the rational class.
The Almighty Allah says “Do they distribute the mercy of your Lord? It is We who have distributed their sustenance in this world and raised the positions of some of them above others so that they would mock each other. The mercy of your Lord is better than what they can amass.” (Quran 43:32). This divine rule is obligatory on every believer. It is general, not limited to Morocco, but the whole world.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
