Summary of the conclusions of MEDPRO Technical Report “Morocco at the Crossroads: Seizing the window of opportunity for sustainable development” written by Junior Researcher S. Colombo

By Papanicolaou Konstantinos

This review is based on the MEDPRO Technical Report written by S. Colombo [1] regarding the difficulties that Morocco is trying to overcome in order to democratize and achieve sustainable economic development. The review contains conclusions regarding the political and financial situation of Morocco and also sheds light on the historical dimensions of the evolution of the kingdom of Morocco.

The modern history of Morocco resembles in its evolution that of the others North African states. It starts with a period of European domination and continues with the period of independence. With the Treaty of Fez (1912), Morocco became France’s protectorate for the following forty-four years, until 1956, when Morocco gained independence. In the first years of independence, Morocco had to face problems with regard to its territorial integrity, mainly concerning the cities of Tanger-Tetouan and the Spanish claims on these regions and the conflict with Mauritania over the status of the Western Sahara (subjects that remain open until today). With regard to the political system, King Hassan became the first monarch of Morocco, establishing the Kingdom of Morocco in 1956.   In the decade of 1990, Morocco initiated political and financial reforms known as Islamic liberalism[2], which included an opening towards the Western World. Islamic liberalism constitutes the development of a political doctrine that combines moderate Islam and political  liberalism.

A significant change in the political evolution under King Mohammed VI were the reforms that transformed the political system from a traditional monarchy typical[3] of the Arab world to a secular constitutional monarchy in 1999.

The Moroccan monarchy seems aware of the social and economic problems in the country. With the rise to the throne of the young King Mohammed VI in 1999, the country embarked on a series of reforms aimed at portraying Morocco as a liberalising country in all domains. These included the partial opening of the political space to opposition parties through the so-called ‘alternance’, a movement first introduced in the November 1997 elections, which brought to power a governing coalition led by the socialist Prime Minister Youssoufi. This movement created a seemingly liberalised political system, in which the king was the arbiter, without directly governing the country. Later however, the king was to become not only the arbiter but also the ruler.

Beyond the king, the seemingly pluralistic Moroccan political system is characterized by a huge number of political parties, which do not participate in the management of authority and lack a strong popular base. These characteristics of the party system create several obstacles to good governance and institutional quality. First, the party and electoral systems favour highly heterogeneous coalitions. Parties that subscribe to political Islam and parties that support the King’s policies compose the Moroccan political system. Second, rampant corruption resulting from the nature of investment and privatisation processes, which favour domestic private actors that are close to the monarchy, has produced policies that benefit a limited part of the population.[4]

The fragmentation of the party system is the result of the process of top-down political liberalisation and the result of the outcome of the decline of traditional nationalist and leftist parties, which have been replaced by new parties.

First of all, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) was created by the former close confidant of the king Fouad Ali Al-Himma. This party has positioned itself as an “anti-party establishment party” keeping its distance from the government but at the same time building strong ties with the palace. Turning to other political actors, within the camp of political Islam, the major divide runs between the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which has accepted to play the monarchy’s game and the Justice and Charity Movement, which refuses to participate in politics. It is clear that Moroccan regime has been able to control and consolidate the political system.

As for the external relations of the Moroccan regime, the contribution to build a close relationship between the North African country and the EU in the framework of the EU-Moroccan Association Agreement, signed in 1996 and entered into force in 2000 in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Since then, Morocco has been recognised as a privileged EU partner in the region. Morocco is today the largest recipient of EU aid in the Mediterranean, with €654 million earmarked for the period 2007-10. Especially in the terms of trade and economy, EU has supported liberalisation and privatisation policies. In 2008, the EU granted Morocco the title of Advanced Status. The most innovative aspect of this status included a “political and strategic dialogue.” The political and strategic dialogue mostly refers to structural reforms in Morrocan political and judiciary system, economy and society.

The report of S. Colombo continues by highlighting the terms in which, economic development occurred in the last two decades. The starting point is the fact that, between 1983 and 1998, the country launched an important structural adjustment programme based on liberalisation and privatisation aimed at fostering foreign direct investment. In particular, import quotas were removed and tariff rates were reduced in order to create a better environment for FDI. EU and IMF supported the country, encouraging neo-liberal economic reforms in view of promoting stability and security. As for the macroeconomic conditions, the country is clearly one of the most open economies in the region. However the reforms didn’t produce as a result genuine economic development. In the last decade, the Moroccan state has launched extended public investment projects in infrastructure and transport. As for the macroeconomic figures, on the one hand economic performance has remained solid despite the consequences of the crisis. It’s expected to 4.5% in 2011, with the public debt kept under control (50% in 2011). On the other hand poverty and unemployment represent critical obstacles on Morocco’s path to sustainable economic development. Unemployment rates surpassed 9% in 2011 when Human Poverty Index of UNDP places Morocco 96th out of 120 countries.

The picture of the country’s development is mixed. Although the country seems to have embarked on significant economic reforms in the face of structural imbalances, the quality of institutions and governance, hadn’t have demonstrated the results that improved, quick financial performance could create.  On the one hand, positive views stress the fact that a number of improvements and investments have been made in recent years, including the revision of the family code and the launch of capital-intensive projects, mainly encouraged and sponsored by external actors such as the EU.[5] On the other hand, others[6] point to the fact that the regime has become the obstacle to the state’s sustainable development. GDP growth over the last few years and future projections will not suffice to redress the economic situation and to generate employment and development. Statistics speak of the need to attain at least 7% GDP growth.[7] Moreover economic liberalization especially when it originates in external actors, can’t be able in most of the times to achieve sustainable economic growth to political reforms that will guide to a liberal democracy(several examples in Arab world lead to this conclusion). [8]

Moreover recent events in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria haven’t left Morocco unaffected and have contributed to spark manifestations of disconnect in Morocco too, against inequalities, unemployment, lack of education prospects and the discrediting of the political system. The new review of European Neighbourhood Policy [9] and the new criteria that places, poses a new framework of developing the relations between Morocco and EU, and focuses on the democratisation of the political system and social structures and the development of sustainable and genuine economic development for the Moroccan citizens.