The July 11 Referendum did not end the debate in Morocco
There is increasingly a split on the world’s opinion and editorial and opinion pages reflecting a split on the extent and sufficiency of the constitutional reforms introduced by King Mohammed VI and approved on July 1 by the Moroccan people. Writing in the NYT, Ahmed Charai, publisher of the weekly Moroccan newspaper L’Observateur and Joseph Braude is the author of “The Honored Dead: A Story of Friendship, Murder, and the Search for Truth in the Arab World,” hailed the reforms. They wrote, “Morocco appears to have found a new model for political transition. If the constitutional experiment succeeds, the country will have the opportunity — and responsibility — to take on the regional leadership role that has traditionally been played by Egypt.”
In Al Arabiya, Intissar Fakir of the National Endowment for Democracy wrote an article entitled, “Liberalization in Morocco: What A Sham!” Her opinion is that the reforms are little more than window dressing and serve little purpose other than to maintain the power of the democracy:” With a vote margin typical of authoritarian regimes, the monarchy can easily claim that these reforms have satisfied its subjects and that further opposition would be contrary to the popular will. Rather than driving reform, the referendum and the new constitution are more likely to kill hopes of further liberalization in Morocco, real political reform that alters the kingdom’s fundamental political structures.”
