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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 November 1999 Issue No. 456 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 November 1999 Issue No. 456
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Advent of the 'New Morocco'
By Dalal Abu GhazalehMoroccans greeted with relief King Mohamed VI's decision to sack Interior Minister Idriss Basri last week, some commentators wasting no time before launching a barrage of criticism against the former minister -- describing him as "the devil himself". Basri has been blamed for many of the political, economic and social ills that have beset Morocco during his 25 years in office.
However, in a farewell speech that coincided with his 61st birthday, Basri advised his successor, Ahmed Al-Midawi, to be "selfless and cautious when taking decisions in order to avoid later regrets".
The new interior minister, who lost his post two years ago as head of Morocco's National Security after a clash with Basri, promised to enhance democracy, reconcile people with the administration, boost the economy and overcome problems through cooperation with what is dubbed the "alternance government" of Socialist Prime Minister Abdel-Rahmane Al-Youssoufi.
Immediately after Basri left "the Mother of all Ministries", as Moroccans have been used to calling the Ministry of the Interior, sources said that his aides were facing interrogation, and that some offices at the interior ministry had been sealed, apparently under royal directive, in order not to allow documents to leak out.
The "fall" of this widely feared minister, whose influence pervaded key areas of Moroccan life, has been an opportunity for Moroccan commentators, some of them previously close allies and associates of the outgoing minister, to hail what they describe as the "New Morocco" under the young new king.
Two days before sacking Basri, King Mohamed promised to deal with Morocco's problems from a "new perspective".
According to Al-A'lam, the newspaper of the Al-Istiqlal Party, Basri's dismissal was "similar to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, which ended suppression and oppression". The newspaper went on to describe Basri as a "dangerous phenomenon". Al-Ahdath Al-Maghribia meanwhile said that Basri's "power had distorted justice, destroyed legal and constitutional rights and denied freedom".
Basri had "killed people in cold blood and put others in prison and secret confinement," the paper continued.
Moroccan politicians and human-rights activists have also welcomed the new monarch's move as a major breakthrough that could open the door to greater political freedoms and give a stronger hand to Youssoufi's government. The Moroccan premier, who has long demanded Basri's dismissal, had been constrained by the ex-interior minister's hold on office, since Basri had long been perceived as the country's de facto prime minister.
It was noted that cars parked in front of the interior ministry building, most of them carrying VIPs and foreign delegates, were always bigger and more impressive than those visiting Youssoufi's office.
On the regional level, many Moroccans hope that Basri's dismissal will pave the way for the country's reconciliation with Algeria. While the Algerian leader Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika has not blamed the new king for the tensions that have recently erupted between the two neighboring countries, he has referred to the "powerful circles" in Morocco that have prevented a rapprochement from taking place. This is believed to be a clear reference to Basri.
Western diplomats, meanwhile, have generally also spoken favourably of the move, one commenting that the "New Morocco" would attract investors who may have been previously frightened off by a lack of freedom in the country. Basri could have been "a stumbling stone" for Morocco's development, the diplomat said.
The king's move to sack his late father's close aide came one hundred days after his recent enthronement, but is in line with his stated aims. King Mohamed, 36, from day one of his reign has launched himself into the daunting task of dismantling the ugliest part of his father's legacy, being the state security apparatus that for years sought to crush opposition and force Hassan II's perceived foes into exile.
Accordingly, one of King Mohamed's first decisions was to allow his father's ardent foe, Abraham Sarafati, to come home from exile after spending eight years in France. Several appeals to King Hassan from Western governments and human-rights activists to allow Sarafati to return had previously been turned down.
Diplomats and political analysts, however, while acknowledging that Basri was a symbol of the previous era, have also said that he should not be seen as having masterminded all the country's ills. They quote the ex-interior minister as saying that for many decades his mind had stopped functioning because he had given "it as a present to His Majesty" the late King Hassan.
Hassan, however, in his later years seemed ready to carry out liberal reforms, the late king having pledged to clear Morocco's human-rights record and appointed Youssoufi's government. Nevertheless King Hassan had insisted on keeping Basri in his post.
Whatever the true significance of the move may turn out to be, for ordinary Moroccans it has undoubtedly heralded a new era of hope for a better future in a country ravaged by an $18 billion debt and a 20 per cent rate of unemployment that had forced many to emigrate in search of a better life abroad.
"The one who has been stifling and suffocating us is gone", said Fatima, a university graduate who is forced to work as a housemaid, in reaction to the news.
