Morocco's Third Path: Between Revolution & the Status Quo - Translated by Anouar M'zoudi
Morocco's Third Path: Between Revolution & the Status Quo
Written by Younes Abouyoub
Translated by Anouar M'zoudi
On April 5, 2012 the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a conference on the Arab Spring. The panel was entitled “Islamists in Power: Views from Within. Building New Regimes after the Uprisings.” The panelists included representatives of the Tunisian Ennahda Movement, the Egyptian Freedom & Justice party (Muslim Brotherhood), the Jordanian Islamic Front party, and the Moroccan Justice & Development party (represented by Mustapha El Khalfi, the Minister of Communication in the newly elected government of Morocco). The panelists explored a number of important questions including the role of religion in politics, the protection of basic freedoms, respect for the outcome of elections, and solutions for economic problems.
Minister El Khalfi’s word focused on what he called the “Third Path” within the Arab Spring. “The Third Path” here refers to “ Morocco’s exceptional path between revolution and keeping the current regime in place.” According to El Khalfi, this exceptional path is shaped by three elements: the role of the monarchy, the role of the 20 February Movement and civil society organizations, and the political pluralism within the country since independence. In El Khalfi’s opinion Morocco has chosen to maintain its political stability and give up the immobilization that has characterized its political system for decades. This alternative approach, explained El Khalfi, was adopted thanks to the emergence of the 20th February Movement, which mobilized the political scene and represented a challenge that the Moroccan regime reacted positively to. This saved the country from the political unrest witnessed in neighboring countries.
El Khalfi’s statement was honest compared to previous rhetorical statements by former ministers of communication. He did not hesitate to describe the Moroccan political system as being poor as far as good governance is concerned. El Khalfi also referred to the widespread corruption and noted that Morocco’s rank in the international transparency index has dropped from 52 in 2002 to 82 in 2011.
As far as the role of religion is concerned, El Khalfi has talked about engaging in politics while maintaining an Islamic background and not as an Islamic government. He highlighted the role of the monarchy and its moderate interpretation of Islam in unifying Moroccans and in adjusting modernity to Islamic standards, as well as laying the foundations for political pluralism since independence. According to El Khalfi, the policy of political integration that Morocco adopted by involving the leftists in 1998 in the political system and Islamists later on is the main reason why Morocco has not witnessed political turmoil and maintained its status as an exception.
However, El Khalfi has identified four challenges that Morocco faces at the moment. The first challenge is the implementation of the new constitution by adopting organic laws and providing guarantees to protect basic freedoms. According to El Khalfi, the government should not intervene in all the matters related to the organization of the media. He also mentioned that the government should encourage the establishment of a new independent and democratic council to organize the field of media. The second challenge is the implementation of the project of regionalization and decentralization, and the third challenge is providing real solutions to the economic and social problems. Last but not least, the fourth challenge is the development of real regional cooperation, especially if the current situation of the European economy is taken into account.
We have listened lately to many lectures by Moroccan officials during their visits to the United States. These lectures, however, don’t match the boldness and the imperturbability of El Khalfi’s speech. The other Moroccan officials ignored the role of the February 20 Movement in the latest political developments, and they referred to the state as playing a positive role in the latest events, while El Khalfi confessed that the February 20 Movement and civil society organizations’ role was crucial. But he didn’t state that the February 20 Movement’s emergence was actually behind bringing the minister’s party to power through what he called “the ballot boxes revolution.”
What is ambiguous or rather a source of weakness in El Khalfi’s speech and in the speeches of the other Islamic parties is the economy. It is true that El Khalfi placed economy as a second priority after good governance, and he suggested a number of general ideas to revitalize the economy such as, reviving exportation, the importance of the Free Trade Treaty with the United States, and the cooperation between the private and public sectors.
However, these policies are not new. The technocrat governments were the first to implement this policies, and we are all aware of the repercussions resulted from the adoption of such liberal policies. Islamists focus their attention on corruption, the imbalances of governance, the issues related to identity and moral values, but none of them have been capable of formulating an alternative discourse as far as the economy is concerned . A discourse that would address not just social solidarity but also economic justice and the role of the workers in achieving growth and their right to benefit from development. None of the Islamist groups provide any alternatives for what are referred to as the market economy, liberal policies and unfair privatization processes.
Our hope is that the newly elected government will be able to create a third path in the economy, unlike the third path that Tony Blair adopted and claimed that it will help society achieve a state of welfare, while in reality his path served the interests of the privileged few.
* Younes Abouyoub Ph.D. is a political sociologist at the Department of Middle Eastern, South-Asian, and African Studies, Columbia University, New York.
