King Mohammed VI’s opening of parliament reaffirms leadership’s constitutional role

As King Mohammed VI inaugurated Morocco’s new parliamentary session on Friday 10 October in Rabat, his speech carried deep significance for citizens of the country. His Majesty’s address marked both the start of the legislative session, as well as a reconfiguration of sorts of Morocco’s national institutions, guiding these back toward their intended constitutional purpose: representation of citizens, hearing their demands, and most importantly, translating these into coherent social policy. Although across the region political tensions are oft bypassed by institutional channels entirely, His Majesty’s opening of Parliament has signalled an intention to tackle citizens’ needs head on through the country’s most impactful political institution.

The Moroccan Constitution of 2011 is among the most ambitious in the Arab world in terms of parliamentary prerogatives. Within its scope, lawmakers are granted the opportunity to take real legislative initiative, providing these with extensive oversight capacity, and establishing a framework for territorial equity. Constitutions, however, can only be as powerful as the use made of them for promoting the well-being of citizens. To that effect, the King, in his address, set the tone clearly: “I invite you to devote this year to working in a serious, responsible manner... and to be vigilant and determined in serving the issues that matter to the citizens”, he stated. This was a clear directive of His Majesty to reactivate Parliament not only as a procedural chamber but more importantly, as a constitutional engine.

Although in many cases, an invisible line is apparent between concrete development and the needs of citizens across the social spectrum, the speech underscored a principle which European policymakers would be familiar with from their own historical debates. This is the need to ensure the legitimacy of governance by upholding inclusion and territorial equity. In this regard, His Majesty discussed a number of projects of significance which are currently in the works, including coastal development, digital administration and next-generation rural centres. This also follows a recent unveiling by His Majesty of multi-million Euro investments in rail infrastructure projects across the Kingdom. These will see connectivity directly benefiting citizens and the expedition of economic opportunity. Such projects have showcased that in His Majesty’s eyes economic ambition must unfold alongside social cohesion.

Observers who have been quick to contrast Morocco’s extensive 2030 World Cup investment with funds invested in youth development are simply not aware of the economic reality on the ground. The budget has been structured such that for every dirham allocated to football infrastructure, which itself is also an investment in the future of the nation, nearly ten are committed to social development, including but not limited to health and education. To be concrete, Morocco’s 2025 budget directs MAD 117.7 billion to education and health per year, while around a tenth of that amount, MAD 10 billion annually, has been earmarked for World Cup preparations. Looking at the broader investment landscape, education spending has risen by 86% since 2015, and health investment by over 150%. These are amounts which clearly align with standards set as European Union development benchmarks when calculating public service expenditure as a percentage of GDP.

There are those who are cynical about the upcoming World Cup, portraying it as a distraction from reform. The King’s broader development vision makes clear, however, such prestigious opportunities on an international scale are in actuality, a significant catalyst for development. Indeed, the greatest example of how football can be leveraged as an economic engine can be seen in the United Kingdom, where it generates £7.6 billion annually and directly supports over 150,000 jobs, not to mention those that benefit indirectly, including the food and beverage, hospitality and retail industries. In the case of Morocco, it is not just global visibility which the government seeks. This will necessarily be converted into employment, tourism flows, and infrastructure upgrades. Global prestige events must be seen as strategic economic multipliers, not vanity spends.

Although those seeking headlines have focused on protest banners and slogans, His Majesty’s parliamentary address carried a consequential message. Moroccan leadership is aware of citizens’ perspective and consequently, is choosing to address these through ensuring institutional continuity instead of the rupture which some would like to see. This indeed, would not lead to social demands being met. What the opening of Parliament has shown is a commitment to a results-driven administrative culture anchored in transparency, equity, and clear performance metrics. Engaging in the language of crisis is not conducive to actual change. Instead, social demands must be processed through structures capable of delivering measurable outcomes with the help of inclusive development, through institutional stewardship that has the power to offset not constructive populist rupture.

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