King’s Call to Action: Lawmakers Urged to Elevate Governance and Social Equity

In his speech on the occasion of the opening of the last year of the parliamentary term, King Mohammed VI has set an unambiguous course: to complete, explain, and be accountable. Saluting the legislative work, the control of government action and parliamentary diplomacy, he has urged the elected representatives to raise the level of requirement:

"We invite you to work seriously and responsibly to successfully complete the legislative processes [...] and to remain alert and committed to pleading the cause of the citizens."

Complete, explain, associate

The Sovereign rejects the sterile opposition between infrastructure and social protection:

• "There should be neither antinomy nor rivalry between major national projects and social programs."

• He insists on the pedagogy of reforms: the communication around laws and decisions, "particularly those directly related to the rights and freedoms of citizens", is not the prerogative of the government.

• "This mission is not the sole responsibility of the government. It is the business of all, and you, the parliamentarians, are on the front line."

• Political parties, local elected officials, the media, civil society: all the driving forces are called upon to relay, explain and supervise.

Social justice and spatial equality, a strategic focus

Echoing the spirit of the last Throne Speech, Mohammed VI anchors the social justice / reduction of territorial inequalities diptych as a cardinal and lasting axis of public policies:

"The ’social justice and the fight against territorial inequalities’ diptych is far from being an empty slogan."

The true barometer of progress, he points out, is read at the local level, where citizens concretely experience the presence of the State.

A new generation of territorial programs

The King expects "faster, higher-impact" programs, based on precise field data and "the use of digital technologies". Paradigm shift:

"The transformation [...] requires a significant change in mindsets and working methods, as well as a real rooting of the culture of results."

The win-win relationship between urban and rural areas is established as a principle of action, with four priority levers: local economic initiatives, youth employment, education, health, backed by territorial upgrading.

Three clearly targeted development priorities

• Mountains and oases: reconsider these territories (30% of the country) through "an integrated public policy" that enhances their specificities and potentials.

• Coastline: operationalize the law and the National Coastal Plan to reconcile economic development and preservation of marine resources:

"The goal is to ensure the necessary balance between the accelerated development of these areas and the requirements of their protection."

• Emerging rural centers: extend the national program to bring administrative, social and economic services closer and to supervise urbanization.

Zero tolerance for inefficiency

Faced with slowness, duplication and waste, the tone is hardening:

"Any negligence affecting the efficiency and profitability of public investments is unacceptable."

The watchword: unclutter procedures, track "time-consuming, energy-hungry and resource-hungry" practices, and deliver measurable results.

A final call for unity and public ethics

The King invites the majority and the opposition to "mobilize all energies" and to give priority to the higher interest of the Nation. He concludes with a spiritual reminder that gives a moral dimension to public action:

"Whoever does a good deed, even of the weight of an atom, will see it, and whoever does an evil deed, even of the weight of an atom, will see it."