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Arab World Latest News: The New Politics of Morocco, Egypt, Yemen and Kuwait
International Business Times 2 January 2012
Months of protests and social change in many countries in the Middle East and North Africa have again reached a simultaneous boil, and the latest round of Arab Awakening events has seen elections, resignations of totalitarian leaders and victories for liberty.
Compared to its North African neighbors, Morocco has remained relatively free of anti-government protests, largely because King Mohammed VI has worked hard to pre-emptively make political concessions. On Monday -- for the first time ever -- Mohammed VI will appoint a prime minster from an elected majority party.
In July, a new constitutional referendum transferred some of the power held by the monarch for 350 years to the people. The country held parliamentary elections, and the king now has to choose his prime minister from among the winning party instead of appointing whomever he chooses.
The Justice and Development Party, a moderate Islamist party, won a parliamentary majority after Friday's elections, taking 107 of 395 seats in the assembly. Mohammed VI is expected to nominate Abdelilah Benkirane for Prime Minister. Benkirane, who has been leading PJD since 2008, is meeting with the king on Tuesday in Rabat.
The Justice and Development Party will be the first ever Islamist party ever allowed into Moroccan government. But that doesn't mean that PJD can or will impose any religious laws.
"If I get into government, it won't be so I can tell young women how many centimeters of skirt they should wear to cover their legs. That's none of my business. It is not possible, in any case, for anyone to threaten the cause of civil liberties in Morocco," Benkirane told Le Parisien before elections last week.
Voters in Egypt will have to wait longer to see the results of their parliamentary elections. On Monday, millions of Egyptians lined up to vote in the first of three rounds of elections for the first time since the fall of the Hosni Mubarak regime, some waiting eight hours or more to cast their ballots. (...)
