Moroccan political parties calling for residents abroad to play full part in 2007 legislative elections

07/04/2006

The right to political involvement, which was granted to Moroccans resident abroad, continues to attract attention from both politicians and associations in Morocco.

By Hassan Benmahdi for Magharebia in Casablanca – 07/04/06

[File] Al Madmad feels the benefits of migration go beyond its economic dimension.

Participants in a meeting called "The Involvement of Moroccans Residents Abroad (MREs) in the Management of the Democratic Process in Morocco" felt that decisions taken by the nation to sanction the political representation of the community would go beyond the narrow economic approach to migration.

At this meeting, held in Rabat on Tuesday (4 April) by the National Democratic Party, various speakers stressed that political involvement of the Moroccan expatriate community was still at a low level, despite its demographic significance (ten per cent of the whole Moroccan population), major contribution at the socio-economic level (7.5 per cent of gross domestic product) and parallel role in diplomacy.

The assessment was endorsed in comments by Khadija Al Madmad, director of the African Institute for Human Rights and Development and holder of the UNESCO chair of " Migration and Human Rights" at Hassan II University in Casablanca. She feels Morocco has often handled the migration question from an economic angle limited to the encouragement of MREs to return to the country, transfer their savings and invest in Morocco.

With this in mind, Al Madmad stressed the need to integrate political and social dimensions into treatment of the migration question. She explained that this would allow them to be brought together with all national bodies in the general development of their country.

Ismail Alaoui, general secretary of the Party for Progress and Socialism said equity demanded that MREs have parliamentary representation proportional to their numbers. Mhamed Khalifa of the Istiqlal party called on MREs to participate in the democratic process, pointing out that the forthcoming legislative ballots in 2007 would enable the completion of Morocco's transition to democracy.

In 2005, Morocco announced its decision to grant MREs the ability to be duly represented in the Chamber of Representatives. From this decision, came another concerning the need to create electoral constituencies abroad with the aim of allowing MREs to choose their Members of Parliament and representatives. The third decision in this area gave new generations of MREs the right to vote and to put themselves forward as candidates in elections. At the same time, Morocco went on to create an Upper Council for the Moroccan Community Abroad.