Moroccan Executive Summary

As part of our diplomatic training, professors of Al-Akhawayn University had opened our eyes to domestic and foreign issues related to Morocco and the Middle East. Together with classroom training and visits to the Moroccan Parliament, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rabat, I have compiled a short summary of what we have learnt on Moroccan and Middle Eastern Politics.

The Middle East is made up of 21 countries, 16 of which are ruled under the single party ‘populist authority’, or the family-ruled monarchical regime. Morocco falls under the monarchical political system, whereby the King is constituently the overriding political decision-maker. As the direct descendent of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), Morocco’s current sovereign HM King Mohammed VI is also recognised as the Head of Religion. Educated with a law degree, the King has the expertise to modify Islamic law to modern circumstances, which is unlike many Islamist state.

Domestically, the King is favourable for the improvement of women’s rights. After decades of protests by feminist organisations, the King has supported the reformation of the ‘Family Code’ which ensures that women become men’s partner in rights and obligation. Reforming the Moudawana has enabled women the right to divorce, retain property, pass national rights to her children, and increase the minimum age of marriage to 15. However, even with these changes, women’s freedom of movement remains restrictive especially in rural areas. Morocco has one of the highest illiteracy rates (80-90% of all ages) and is still 47% rural. The law says that everyone must attend school, however the mixture of French, Arabic, Spanish and local Berber dialect makes educating the nation a difficult process. Universities remain available for the elite, which leaves the rest of the nation behind. Furthermore, the implementation of laws is quite a big problem. For example, the law states that alcohol is forbidden, yet the purchase of alcohol is readily available.

On an international level, Morocco prioritises its foreign agenda around counterterrorism, the unification of the Maghreb, and the Western Sahara. It is quoted that 17% of Al-Qaeda organisation is from Morocco, however Moroccan officials were in denial that terrorism could ever affect them. Such thinking changed when a bomb exploded on May 16, 2003 in Casablanca. Since then, Morocco has been cooperating in counterterrorism strategies in North Africa, and has even issued special permission for the US to keep military bases on its soil. 

Our visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rabat confirmed that the issue of Western Sahara and the Maghreb Union is much complex. Western Sahara is seen as a geo-political issue between Algeria and Morocco, however Morocco had withdrawn from the African Union as they did not support Moroccan claim over the Western Sahara enclaves. People of the Sahara would prefer to be independent yet the right for self-determination is clearly not acknowledged by either party. Similarly, the issue of the Maghreb Union is unlikely to be resolved. The unification of the Northern African region (between Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania) became homogeneous after French colonisation, however each nation have conflicting interest that fail to keep the alliance together. A diplomat at MOFA told us that such issues will be resolved once the problem between Palestine and Israel subsides, hinting that these security matters will continue for some time.

Straight-shooting Marrakech

As one of the most popular tourist destination, I was excited to experience a weekend in Marrakech. At first, I didn’t understand what was so fascinating about this city until we were bombarded by countless palm trees and camels, the scorching 50°C heat, and the vibrant and populated ‘suk’ (marketplace) that seemed to amplify the Morocco’s exoticness.

Unlike Rabat, the trip to Marrakech was purely for pleasure, despite the unbearable heat and 2-day bus ride from Ifrane. As part of the tour, we visited the Bahia Palace designed by the architect Muhammad al-Mekki of Marrakech, the Royal Tomb, the olive garden, and the Medersa Ben Youseff. The architecture of the Medersa Ben Youseff mosque was incredibly beautiful. The traditional Islamic art sculpting of the walls and ceilings truly added an ornate feeling to the already serene and beautiful monument.

Apart from the traditional sightseeing offered by Marrakech, I felt intrigued to explore the famous suk – the Jamaa-El Fna Square, where you can watch snake charmers, storytellers, henna artists and musicians. We came here twice, once in the dead heat of the afternoon and then in the more comfortable evening, which was when the marketplace came to life. A quick walk through the square would take 20 minutes on average with the constant distraction of local traders desperately seeking attention away from their competing neighbours. As a country that is extremely reliant on the tourist trade, the suk is the perfect tourist trap. We were warned by our tutors that Marrakech would be filled with imitators who pretend to be the Blue Men of the Desert, like the man I met in Chefchaoen, and to not buy items blindly without haggling down the price.

Considering that I live in a London borough scattered with Indian fashion stores, negotiating prices for goods wasn’t a new concept for me. However I recognised that my British upbringing in being polite to avoid confrontation made me an ineffective haggler. Although the prices of many items were jacked up for tourist, I felt guilty in persuading traders to knock off £2-5 off my purchase when I knew I could afford it. My colleague, Anca Sol from Romania, had a very different approach in to negotiating, which I have dubbed the ‘straight-shooter negotiation technique’.

The ‘straight shooter’ technique is a very direct approach – you name a price without any room for negotiation, full stop! If the trader disagrees with the price, you walk away and look elsewhere. The advantage of this technique is that it is 100% effective if the right pressure is applied. However, such a technique can quickly lead to an ill-feeling of anger by the other party to the point where they will never want to do business with you again. The ‘straight shooter’ technique isn’t for everyone – and it most certainly wasn’t for me.

Trip to the North

This “trip to the North” was an exciting spur-of-the-moment opportunity after our scheduled weekend to Rabat was cancelled. I quickly became excited with the idea of hiking and touring in the deep valleys of the Northern Moroccan borders even if the decision to participate was sudden. The two day tour included hiking and swimming in Cabo Negro beach, Akshour, and Chefchaouen with 52 students including 15 exchange students.

The journey to the North began at 1.30am on Saturday where we drove approximately 7 hours to our first destination. Cabo Negro beach in Tetouan is close to the borders of Spain, therefore the Spanish language (instead of French) was widely spoken in this region. After a short break for breakfast, we arrived at the beach, which was deserted largely due to the cold wet weather. Our so-called ‘beach day’ lasted only 30 minutes before the temperature dropped and the skies opened up to torrential downpour.

Disappointed, we returned to the mini vans to travel to our next destination – Chefchaouen, where our accommodation for the night awaited us. As we left Tetoun, I was amazed to see the city littered with the Moroccan flag. Every few yards, another set of flags waved in the air. We were told that the King Mohammed VI had visited Tetouan a few days ago, and it is a tradition to decorate the town with its national flag and colour for the special visit. It is apparent that the King of Morocco has great executive power in the country more so than the Moroccan Prime Minister. Security forces in uniform are seen everywhere. While police presence indicates the autocracy of the nation, the sheer volume of security actually makes me feel safe in this country, especially when terrorism is a major problem.

In the local Berber language, Chefchaouen means “the horns” - I presume, of the mountains, which was exactly what we saw when driving through the valley. The scenery was spectacular with the additional treats of seeing farmers ploughing the land, people riding donkeys and even some locals waiting by the roadside for a hitch-hike. The town of Chaouen is well-known as the ‘blue city’ – all the buildings are painted sky blue, which brings about an immense sense of calm to the general atmosphere. I was surprised with how touristic the town was and even more surprised with just how windy it was. It felt like a typhoon but we still managed to explore cute little stores that sold very interesting handicrafts and jewellery. I was in awe of our accommodation – Casa Hassan – which looked like a room from an Arabian fairytale. I also met a man who was apparently from the desserts of Morocco. He seemed quite taken by me being ‘dark-skinned’ – I get mistaken as a Moroccan quite often due to my complexion. He dressed me up as a typical Berber woman, which was quite a strange experience.

The next day, we travelled to Akshour, the deep Northen valley of Morocco where we hiked through rocky terrain. Unfortunately I had many technical issues with my footwear. As we were trekking through shallow rivers, my sandals broke twice. I actually ended up hiking for 5 minutes bear-foot until finally deciding to destroy my trainers in the water. The hike must have taken 2 hours until finally reaching ‘the bridge of God’ where we rewarded by cold mountainous streams to swim in. I only soaked my foot in the water, but many students were brave enough to dive straight into it.

The trip to the North was most certainly a memorable experience and on behalf of the Diplomatic Academy of London, I would like to thank the Students Activities Department of AUI for organising this amazing experience for us.