MADRID/RABAT (dpa) – When Mohammed VI came to the throne of Morocco two years ago, he was seen as a liberal and innovating “king of change”. Now, the 38-year-old monarch is frequently described as a “mystery”.
The king first raised enormous hopes by acting boldly on several fronts, a western observer says. But now, “reforms have stalled and we do not know where the king is headed.”The head of the centuries-old Alawite monarchy may be wise to act cautiously in a conservative and slow-moving society, says Abdullah al-Oualladi, president of the Moroccan Organization of Human Rights (OMDH).Yet other analysts warn that the growing masses of the poor cannot wait, and that the slow pace of reform is turning the north African country of 30 million into a ticking time bomb.When Mohammed VI succeeded his heavy-handed late father Hassan II in July 1999, he seemed the man that the country´s liberal intellectuals had been waiting for.He sacked Hassan´s hated interior minister Driss Basri, allowed political exiles to return, launched a foundation to alleviate poverty and began paying damages to families which had been victims of repression under Hassan´s rule.The king even became known for driving his own car and stopping at traffic lights. He stayed in his own villa instead of moving to his father´s palace and cut palace staff.Freedom of speech in today´s Morocco is greater than could even have been imagined in Hassan´s time, Oualladi says. “In those days, I could hardly even have talked to a foreign journalist.”Yet urban liberals are complaining that not that much has changed. Television news still open with lengthy reports about the king´s activities, and more than 2 billion dirhams of the national budget of 139 billion dirhams (12 billion dollars) are spent on royal expenses.The monarch continues to rule by issuing decrees while the democratically elected government – considered too large and sluggish – is said to just look on.Some former perpetrators of repression still hold influential posts, three newspapers were temporarily closed for implicating Socialist premier Abder-Rahman Youssoufi in a coup attempt, and demonstrations of human rights activists and Islamic fundamentalists have been violently repressed.Critics include the king´s cousin Moulay Hicham, who spoke of “a general deception” among Moroccans. “Some accuse the king of indecisiveness,” a Western analyst says, “while others believe that the military is pulling more and more strings.”“My rhythm is the one that suits Morocco,” Mohammed VI countered in a recent interview. “It may not be the one that some arrogant and ignorant observers (…) would want to impose on us.”“I have been labelled a mystery,” the king said, “only because I have decided to know better before I speak out.”Whatever the reasons for the slowing down of reforms, there is little doubt that Morocco needs them. Around half of the population is illiterate, 80 per cent of rural people have no electricity and running water, and an estimated 200,000 people flock to city slums every year.More than 100,000 young people have graduated from university to find themselves on the dole. Corruption is rampant, and the north survives partly on cultivating cannabis for export to Europe.Most analysts agree that the most urgent reform is that of the bloated administration, whose salaries eat up half of the budget.The king has surrounded himself with young advisors, but attempts at change keep being hampered by his father´s old guard, which hangs on to its privileges.The established political parties are largely headed by veterans whose alleged lack of vision has given more and more foothold to Islamic fundamentalists.The Justice and Spirituality movement presents itself as the country´s only real opposition, but observers doubt whether Islamic puritanism is attractive for young people who yearn for a freer society and western-style consumer goods.The forces of liberal change are embodied in associations which defend causes such as human rights and the emancipation of women. Yet they remain on the margins of political life, and many young people see no other solution than leaving the country.Tens of thousands of Moroccans annually risk their lives trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar over to Spain, and one poll showed that as many as 70 per cent of young people want to emigrate.“They are seeking something more than money,” said Mohammed Serifi, official for an international aid organization. “They want better conditions of life, cultural and mental conditions…”Others sum it all up with the word modernity.“The country needs a new push,” Oualladi observes. Analysts say that the real test for Mohammed VI will be the 2002 elections which, if free from the usual fraud, could be “a new beginning”.
