Assahafa.com
The ongoing demonstrations in Morocco, sparked by Gen Z’s fury at rampant corruption and elite unaccountability, have seen widespread demands from the Moroccan people for the dismissal of the current government to ease the growing tensions that have swept the country for the past week.
Yet, amid these popular calls for the resignation or dismissal of a government most Moroccans believe has disastrously failed to deliver on its promises of socio-economic inclusion, many makers or shapers of Moroccan public opinion — be they journalists, media commentators, social media influencers, and even some academics or public intellectuals — have strangely come out with comments suggesting, with a degree of misleading certainty, that King Mohammed VI no longer has the authority to dismiss the government since Morocco adopted its current constitution in July 2011.
This is a serious and dangerous misconception that begs one fundamental question: Have those making such a preposterous claim — presumably informed individuals who read regularly — actually taken the time to carefully read the provisions of the current constitution?
The king remains Morocco’s supreme arbiter
So, what does the Moroccan Constitution say?
According to Article 42 of the Constitution, His Majesty the King remains the nation’s supreme representative and symbol of unity. He is also the guarantor of the state’s continuity and the supreme arbiter between its institutions. As such, he ensures respect for the Constitution and the proper functioning of constitutional institutions, as well as protecting the democratic process and the rights and freedoms of citizens.
Perhaps most importantly, the King is also the guarantor of the country’s independence and territorial integrity within its authentic borders. He fulfils these duties by issuing royal decrees (dahirs), which are based on the powers explicitly granted to him by the Constitution. Accordingly, under Article 51 of the Constitution, the King may dissolve one or both houses of Parliament, in accordance with the conditions outlined in Article 96.
All of which means that the King may, again under Article 96, after consulting the Constitutional Court and notifying (and the emphasis should be put here on “notifying” only) the Head of Government and the Presidents of both parliamentary chambers, dissolve Parliament (in whole or in part) through a royal dahir. This must be preceded by a royal address to the Moroccan people informing them of the decision. If the King proceeds with this decision, elections for a new Parliament must be held within a maximum period of two months, as per Article 98.
Given that the current government derives its political legitimacy from the parliamentary majority or the coalition it formed within Parliament, the dissolution of Parliament automatically implies the dismissal of the government and the end of its mandate.
In light of these provisions, it is unequivocally clear that the 2011 Constitution still grants the King the power to indirectly dismiss the Head of Government through the dissolution of Parliament. To be sure, and to avoid any misunderstanding, it is crucial to understand that when the King dissolves Parliament, the government’s authority also comes to an end.
The only instance where the King assigns a dismissed government to manage day-to-day affairs until new elections are held is when the Head of Government voluntarily submits their resignation. Indeed, Article 47 of the Constitution clearly stipulates that if the Head of Government resigns, the King terminates the duties of the entire government.
Understanding the letter and the spirit of law
In the current context, with widespread popular demands for the King to dismiss the Head of Government, the logical conclusion to be drawn from all these provisions preserving the supremacy of the King in the Moroccan politico-legal order is that the current government may be dismissed if the King chooses to exercise the powers granted to him under Articles 42, 51 and 96 of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, it is both curious and that, given the precedent of March 2017, when the King stepped in to dismiss then Head of Government Abdelilah Benkirane, many intellectuals and commentators would still make or popularize the fallacious claim that the King does not have the legal authority to dismiss the current governing coalition.
It must be understood that any constitution or legal text has two dimensions: the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Even if we were to assume that the letter of the Constitution does not explicitly state the King’s power to dismiss the Head of Government or to dissolve Parliament, the spirit of the Constitution — meaning the interpretation of its text — grants the King this authority, as the monarch is the guardian of the continuity of state institutions and the protector of the supreme interests of the nation and its people.
The clearest evidence of this is the statement issued by the Royal Palace in March 2017, when it announced the dismissal of Abdelilah Benkirane. In it, the palace insightfully stated that the decision was among the options available to the King based on both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. Therefore, anyone claiming that the King no longer holds the authority to dismiss the Head of Government is actively contributing to misleading the Moroccan people instead of enlightening them.
Moroccans need the country’s intellectual class to shed light on the potential outcomes of the current situation, and on the options available to the highest authority in the country to put an end to the rampant corruption — or at the very least, to mitigate its impact on the national economy.
Morocco is undoubtedly going through a painful, somewhat unprecedented crisis. As such, Moroccan intellectuals – journalists, academics, and beyond – have a solemn obligation to be bearers of light in this dark moment of socio-political reckoning. This means they have the responsibility to fulfill two intertwined, inextricably bound duties.
The first is to constantly remind the political elite of the necessity to take seriously the Moroccan citizenry’s legitimate grievances and demands for dignified lives for the good of the country, and the second is to make sure their interpretations and readings of the country’s history and present do not confuse or mislead other Moroccans about their country’s aspirations and the essence of its political scene.
Source: Morocco word news
