Morocco+Politics

Morocco's Politics
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**Principal Government Officials**  Head of State--King Muhammad VI  Prime Minister--Driss Jetto  Constitutional Monarchy
 * Type of Goverment **

**Political Life** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> **//Government.//** The Kingdom of Morocco developed a constitutional monarchy based on Islamic law and French and Spanish civil law systems soon after receiving independence The three branches of the government are the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. The executive branch includes the chief of state—the hereditary position held for life by the king—the prime minister, and a council of ministers, who are appointed by the king. The legislative branch consists of a bicameral parliament with a Chamber of Counselors and a Chamber of Representatives. The 270 members of the Chamber of Counselors are selected by local councils, professional organizations, and labor syndicates for nine-year terms. The 325 members of the Chamber of Representative are elected by popular vote for six-year terms. A judicial branch, consisting of a Supreme Court of Judges, is presided over by the monarch. Administration is further divided into thirty-seven provinces. Provincial governors are appointed by the king and answer to the central government.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**//Leadership and Political Officials.//** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The successor to Mohammed V, the first king of the independent Morocco, was his son Hassan II. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Upon taking the throne in 1961, Hassan II agreed to recognize the Royal Charter proclaimed by his father, which outline steps for establishing a constitutional monarchy. Ruling for more than thirty-eight years, King Hassan II was on of the longest serving monarchs in the entire Arab world. In July 1999, King Hassan II died of heart failure at the age of seventy. Mohammed VI, the thirty-five-year-old son of Hassan II, took the throne in 1999 and became the eighteenth king of the Alaouite dynasty.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">In Morocco today there are an abundance of political parties, most of which belong to one of two major groupings. The National Entete is the coalition of rightist political parties that was created in 1993 by the National Popular Movement, the Social Democratic Movement, and the Constitutional Union. The Democratic Bloc, the opposition or leftist coalition created in 1992, comprises the Istiqlal Party, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces, the Party of Progress and Socialism, and the Organization of Democratic Popular Action. There are about a dozen Islamic fundamentalist political parties. These groups are not legal although they are unofficially tolerated. Several independent parties also exist. Relations between the king and the many parties have often been stormy, resulting in several attempts at restructuring political control.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**//Social Problems and Control.//** The first constitution in 1962 favored a strong monarchy, subordination of all other political institutions to it, and minimal influence from political parties. This constitution was not well accepted and was followed by a period of civil unrest and student riots. In June 1965 the king responded by invoking a state of emergency and assumed all legislative and executive powers. A new government was created with no political parties. In July 1970 the state of emergency ended when the king submitted to referendum a new constitution with an even stronger monarchy. Following the political changes, two unsuccessful military coup attempts took place, one in 1971 and one in 1972. The king responded with another constitution, which increased the number of directly appointed parliamentary representatives. In the early 1990s opposition parties once again began calling for democratization of Morocco's political institutions. The king responded with yet another constitution, this time integrating the opposition parties to a greater degree than ever before. Nevertheless, requests for integration from the opposition have still not been met entirely. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**//Military Activity.//** The Moroccan Royal Armed Forces include the Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie, and Auxiliary Forces. The king is the commander in chief of all armed forces. In 1997–1998, military expenditures were about US $1.36 million, or 3.8 percent of the national gross domestic product. Since the mid-1970s the Moroccan military has been involved in the ongoing war with the Western Sahara guerilla group, the Polisario.

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