RABAT: Moroccan King Mohammad VI unveiled Friday draft reforms that curb his wide-ranging political powers and outlined a democratic method of choosing the prime minister.
During an address to the nation, prompted by weeks of pro-reform protests, the monarch said that in future the head of government should come “from the ranks of the political party which comes out top in parliamentary elections.”

The democratic measure will be put to a referendum in July, he added.
Morocco’s reformed Constitution will hold officials accountable and shift some powers from the king to the government but he will keep his grip on security, the army and religion, according to a draft seen by Reuters ahead of the address.

“The Moroccan Constitution shall become a chart of citizens’ rights and obligations, guaranteeing equality between both male and female genders, regarding political, social and economic rights. All practices affecting human dignity shall be condemned under the new Constitution, and popular classes will equally enjoy their rights,” the king said.
“Justice, executive power and legislative power will be independent entities, whether financially or politically,” Mohammad added.

He also said a larger number of female judges shall be appointed.
After facing the biggest anti-establishment protests in decades, Mohammad in March ordered a hand-picked committee to discuss with political parties, trade unions and NGOs a constitutional reform. The brief was to trim the 47-year-old monarch’s clout and make the judiciary independent.

The moves by Mohammad, who heads the Arab world’s longest-serving dynasty, are being closely monitored by Western nations and Gulf Arab monarchies, which have so far dodged calls at home for reforms and are anxious the Moroccan model may end up raising the bar of expectations too high in their countries.
The reformed Constitution explicitly grants the government executive powers, although the king would keep exclusive control over military and religious fields and pick a prime minister from the party that wins parliamentary elections.

In another change, ministers, ambassadors and provincial governors, who are Interior Ministry representatives at the regional level, would be proposed by the prime minister although the king himself would have to approve the choices.Further, the prime minister would be able to dissolve the lower house of Parliament after consulting the king, the house speaker as well as the head of the constitutional court.
Najib Chawki, an activist from the February 20 Movement, said the constitutional reform draft “does not respond to the essence of our demands which is establishing a parliamentary monarchy. We are basically moving from a de facto absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy.”

Protesters have also demanded that King Mohammad enforce accountability, fight corruption and limit the influence of the secretive palace elite.
The protests did not go as far as demanding an end to the Arab world’s longest-serving dynasty but neither did they manage to attract a following similar to what was seen during revolts in Tunisia and Egypt which inspired the February 20 Movement.

The reformed Constitution allows the king to delegate the task of chairing ministerial council meetings to the prime minister on a previously agreed agenda. Such meetings can decide on the appointments of provincial governors – powerful representatives of the interior ministry at regional levels – and ambassadors, prerogatives currently exclusive to the king.

The February 20 Movement plans to push ahead with plans for new protests on Sunday, and which it announced before the draft was unveiled. “We will continue to mobilize Moroccans for a democratic Constitution that widens the scope of public freedoms and fights corruption.”
The monarch can still dissolve Parliament but only after consulting the chairman of a newly introduced Constitutional Court, of which half the members will be appointed by the king.

The reform will introduce a Supreme Security Council which will be chaired by the Moroccan king as a platform for consultations on domestic and foreign security issues.
It will include among its members the prime minister, speakers of the bi-cameral Parliament and senior army officers.