Rethinking the Moroccan Parliament: The Kingdom's Legislative Development Imperative

Abstract

The Moroccan legislature should receive more credit than it does for its manifold contributions to the kingdom's political life and reform efforts. Many of the weaknesses which observers frequently ascribe to parliament actually reflect deeper, structural deficiencies within the Moroccan body politic, or they merely flow from the insufficient level of resources that have been placed at the disposal of the legislature. Even so, parliament enjoys a level of public visibility that it did not have even a few years ago. If it were truly devoid of influence, much of the public debate in Morocco would not revolve around the rules and procedures which determine access to it; nor would it be emerging progressively as a focus for lobbying activities by professional associations. In the past several years, interest groups that have ignored parliament repeatedly have paid a high price for doing so. Significantly, media outlets and analysts are spending more time tracking what happens within the walls of parliament. Morocco's parliament is making growing contributions to political representation and executive branch oversight. Its influence on law-making is real. Even with regard to reviewing and approving the budget, where its performance remains the weakest, its role easily can be underestimated. Above all, it performs an integrative and stabilising function that helps shelter Morocco against the divisive and polarising forces that agitate—and under certain conditions could tear apart—the country's society and body politic. Parliament is slowly becoming more pro-active and assertive. Within it, one can detect growing signs of a sense of corporate identity and of a nascent ‘parliamentary culture’ that transcends political divisions. Despite its recent achievements and new evidence of its institutional maturation, the Moroccan legislature continues to operate under powerful constraints, some of which are internal while others originate in the broader constitutional and political environment within which the Moroccan legislature is situated. The article suggests four ways in which a donor might help overcome these obstacles.