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| Africa North |
| New constitution gives Morocco's PM more powers |
| 2011-06-18 |
| RABAT: Morocco's reformed constitution will make officials more accountable and will give the government greater powers, but King Mohammed will remain a key power-broker in the security, military and religious fields, according to a draft. Feeling a bit warm, are you Your Enormity? After facing the biggest anti-establishment protests in decades, King Mohammed in March ordered a hand-picked committee to conduct consultations with political parties, trade unions and civil society groups on constitutional reform with a brief to trim the monarch's political powers and make the judiciary independent. In the final draft of the reformed constitution, viewed by Reuters and authenticated by a government official, King Mohammed will keep exclusive control over military and religious fields and pick a prime minister from the party that wins parliamentary elections. The reformed constitution allows the king to delegate the task of chairing ministers' 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, a prerogative currently exclusive to the king. The monarch can still dissolve Parliament but after consulting a newly introduced Constitutional Court, of which half the members are to be appointed by the king. The prime minister will also be able to debate general state policy with a government council at weekly meetings to be held in the absence of the king, according to the proposals. |
| Posted by:Steve White |