Moroccan king calls for parliamentary elections soon

Rabat: Morocco's King Mohammad called on Saturday for prompt parliamentary polls to expedite a new constitution that reduces his powers, after months of protests inspired by revolts in Tunisia and Egypt.

At the helm of the Arab world's longest-serving dynasty, King Mohammed acted swiftly to contain any spillover from the Arab Spring, promising constitutional changes on March 9, two weeks after protests spread to Morocco.

A new constitution was endorsed in a referendum on July 1 but has failed to end peaceful protests by the youth-led February 20 movement, which is pushing for a constitutional monarchy in which the king remains purely as a figurehead.

Its implementation hinges on the election of a new parliament and the appointment of a government to draft laws enshrining the new constitution.

The interior ministry has been holding meetings with dozens of political parties this month to push for parliamentary polls to take place in October this year rather than September 2012.

Speech

In a television address to mark the 12th anniversary of his reign, the 47-year old monarch said constitutional changes should be implemented to a "rigorous schedule".

"Any delay may jeopardise this dynamic of trust and squander opportunities offered by the new reform in development and providing conditions to ensure decent living standards," King Mohammad said in his first address since the July 1 referendum.

"It's important to start with the election of a new parliament so that we can proceed and based on the poll results ... with the appointment of a head of the government."  The next polls, he said, should be "honest and transparent".

Despite winning near-100 per cent support from voters, the constitutional changes have failed to end peaceful protests by critics who say that, even after the changes, the king will retain most of his powers.

The king chairs cabinet meetings, and controls the judiciary, religious affairs and the army. He can dissolve parliament if it proposes laws that do not please him.

Critics also say that more than half of Moroccans eligible to vote did not take part in the referendum, either out of lack of interest or because they did not register to vote.

Inspired by revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, the February 20 movement, a loose and leaderless alliance of Islamist, left-wing and secular independent activists, plans new protests on Sunday, one day after the anniversary of the king's enthronement.

In an apparent reference to the protests, King Mohammad said commitment to the new charter should "outweigh demobilising, demoralising and nihilistic temptations".

Call to mend ties with Algeria

Mohammad renewed calls on Saturday to normalise ties and reopen borders with wealthier neighbour Algeria, saying that Rabat wants to build an integrated North African economic bloc.

After revolts swept away long-serving rulers in Tunisia and Egypt, rich Gulf dynasties invited fellow Sunni Arab monarchies Jordan and Morocco to join their Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as they seek ways to combat domestic unrest and a perceived threat from Iran.

In a television address to mark the 12th anniversary of his reign, Mohammad did not mention the GCC invitation and said that Morocco "remains committed to building the Maghreb Union as a strategic choice".

Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia formed the Arab Maghreb Union in 1989 to emulate the European Union model of economic and political integration.

The project has never been implemented due mainly to differences between Algeria and Morocco - its two most populous members - over the disputed Western Sahara territory.

"We are determined to work ... to overcome the obstacles which unfortunately hinder the implementation of this project," King Mohammad said.

Morocco looks forward to starting "a new dynamic for the settlement of all pending issues as a prelude to a full normalisation of bilateral relations between our two brotherly countries, including the reopening of land borders", he said.

Unlike Algeria, Morocco has no gas or oil of its own. Economists estimate the closed land border costs Morocco about 2 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product, mainly in potential tourist and trade flows.

Algeria shut the land border in 1994, when Morocco imposed visa requirements on Algerians following a shooting attack in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh. Morocco said it suspected the gunmen, who killed two Spaniards, had ties to Algeria.

Prickly relations have kept the frontier shut ever since, hampering trade flows across North Africa.

A series of high-level visits by Moroccan and Algerian officials in the past few months prompted local media, and some Western diplomats, to say the border could be reopened soon.

Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said in May reopening the border was not on the agenda.

The porous border, which runs 1,559 km from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sahara desert, has been closed several times since 1962, when Algeria followed Morocco in winning independence from France.

The two countries are in dispute over the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony which Morocco annexed in 1975. Algeria supports the Western Saharan independence movement Polisario, a stance that angers Morocco.