King Mohammed VI addressed a speech to the Nation on Monday on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his accession to the Throne.
Here is the full text of the royal speech:
“Praise to God, Prayer and salvation to the Prophet, His family and His companions.
Dear people,
Twenty years have passed since I was appointed to preside over your destiny. The mission is measured by the immense responsibility it underlies.
Before you and before Almighty God, I have sworn to accomplish it with sincere devotion.
God is witness to the perseverance with which I have defended your higher interests and your just causes.
He is also a witness to the absolute concern that has always been Mine: to serve you by ensuring that all Moroccans, wherever they may be, enjoy fair and freely dignified living conditions.
We give thanks to the Lord for the benefits He has so generously given us, by cementing, in unity and symbiosis, the pact of mutual allegiance that binds the Throne to the people, by forging bonds of affection and fidelity between you and Me that time strengthens and fortifies.
We sing His praises for the national unanimity that gathers all Moroccans around the constants and sacred symbols of the Nation, around the major choices of the country:
– At the forefront: the Patriotic and Citizen Monarchy, which aims to be close to the citizens, by making their concerns and aspirations its own and by striving to satisfy them.
– Secondly: the resolute pursuit of the work of democratic consolidation and the quest for development.
– Thirdly: the far-reaching reforms undertaken, the reconciliations successfully completed and the major projects carried out.
Thanks to the combination of these essential choices, God be praised, we are continuing to build a modern Morocco, by working to smooth out the difficulties encountered along the way.
We also thank the Most High for having crowned with success the initiatives and actions that We have undertaken in the service of Our people and Our country.
Of course, it has not always been possible for us to achieve everything we aspire to. But today, we are more determined to stay the course, by capitalizing on the achievements made, by completing the momentum of ongoing reforms, by correcting the dysfunctions observed on the ground.
Dear people,
We have made a qualitative leap forward in infrastructure: motorways, high-speed trains, large ports, renewable energies, urban rehabilitation.
We have also taken important steps in strengthening and consolidating rights and freedoms, for a solid and healthy foundation of democratic practice.
Nevertheless, we know that infrastructure and institutional reforms, however important they may be, are not enough.
The duty of clarity and objectivity requires us to qualify this positive assessment insofar as the progress and achievements already made have unfortunately not yet had a sufficient impact on Moroccan society as a whole.
Some citizens may not perceive the impact of these achievements on their living conditions, particularly in terms of meeting their daily needs and particularly in terms of providing basic social services, reducing social inequalities and strengthening the middle class.
God knows how sad I am to see that Moroccan citizens, representing only 1% of the population, continue to live in precariousness and material deprivation.
This is why We have attached particular importance to human development programmes, to the promotion of social policies to ultimately meet the pressing expectations of Moroccans.
As I pointed out in last year’s Speech, I will have no respite until all obstacles have been removed, appropriate solutions have been found to development and social issues.
This objective requires a global vision and projects carried out successfully thanks to qualified resources and favourable conditions.
Dear people,
Recent years have revealed the inability of our development model to meet the growing needs of some of our citizens, to reduce social inequalities and spatial disparities. This is why We have called for its reassessment and updating.
In fact, I have reservations about the relevance of the creation of special commissions, because some people find that this process is the best way to bury files and ignore the problems associated with them.
Nevertheless, We have taken the initiative to create some of them to which We have entrusted the mission to examine issues of national interest such as Regionalization and the Constitution, the Family Code, matters related to the Equity and Reconciliation Commission. Our personal follow-up of their work has enabled us to achieve conclusive and positive results.
In this regard, We have decided to set up the special commission in charge of the development model. We will proceed with its installation next fall.
We have ensured that this commission, through its composition, brings together different academic disciplines and intellectual sensitivities, by bringing together national expertise from both the public and private sectors. In addition to experience and a requirement of impartiality, these profiles must be sufficiently equipped to understand the dynamics at work in society and to meet its expectations, without ever losing sight of the best interests of the Nation.
In this regard, I would like to stress that this commission will not serve as a second government or a parallel official institution. It will act as an advisory body with a time-limited mandate.
In the course of its work, it will have to take into consideration the main lines of the reforms undertaken or about to be undertaken in sectors such as education, health, agriculture, investment and the tax system. Its proposals should be aimed at improving them and increasing their effectiveness.
We expect this commission to fulfill its mandate with impartiality and objectivity by bringing to our attention an accurate assessment of the current situation, however painful and painful it may be. It must also be equipped with the necessary boldness and genius to propose appropriate solutions.
Rather than being part of a logic of breaking with the past, it is a question of setting a new milestone in our development process.
Above all, it is important to be bold, proactive and highly responsible in implementing sound conclusions and relevant recommendations that will be adopted, whether they would be difficult or costly.
I will come back to this subject in the near future.
At the same time, work must continue with an increased sense of commitment and responsibility, to ensure better management of public affairs and to respond effectively to citizens’ concerns.
Particular emphasis should be placed on improving basic social benefits and improving the performance of public services.
In addition, We invite the government to begin the preparation of a new generation of major sectoral plans, coherent and harmonious, that could serve as a pillar of the development model in its new version.
Dear people,
The renewal of the national development model is not an end in itself; it is the prerequisite for the emergence of a new stage in which We wish, with God’s help, to engage Morocco.
A new stage whose key words are “Responsibility” and “Growth”.
This new stage is all the more promising as Morocco has many energies and potentialities that allow it to create favourable conditions for impetus and development. We certainly have some essential assets.
Our ultimate wish is for Morocco to join the club of advanced nations.
In addition, the new step we are preparing to take is full of internal and external issues and challenges that must be won:
– First: the challenge of consolidating trust and achievements: trust among citizens, trust in the national institutions that bring them together, trust and faith in a better future. This is the key to success and the sine qua non for our collective ambition to be realized.
– Secondly: the challenge of openness and the refusal to withdraw into oneself, particularly in areas related to international experiences and expertise. Openness is all the more fundamental for economic development as it offers Moroccan companies and operators many opportunities to improve their competitiveness.
It has real potential to attract investment, knowledge and know-how from abroad. It is a lever to improve the quality of services and the performance of organizations, to raise the level of training provided, and ultimately to create more jobs.
Admittedly, the State, the public sector and national professional organisations have made great efforts to fulfill their missions and improve the quality of their work.
But, some sectors and liberal professions now need to open up to global expertise and skills, to the private sector, national and foreign.
In addition, many international institutions and companies have expressed a desire to invest and establish themselves in Morocco.
This enthusiasm for our country is a real reason for satisfaction and testifies to the trust placed in it. But the obstacles imposed by certain national legislations, the preponderant timidity and indecision among some officials sometimes confine Morocco and place it in a negative position of confinement and reserve.
Those who oppose the opening up of certain sectors – without wishing to say which ones – on the pretext that it would lead to job losses, do not care much about Moroccans and seek above all to protect their own interests.
In contrast to this logic, foreign investment in these sectors is likely to consolidate the State’s efforts in terms of creating new jobs; it can promote quality training and attract know-how and successful experiences.
– Thirdly: the challenge of economic acceleration and institutional efficiency. The challenge is to rebuild a strong and competitive economy, by encouraging private initiative, launching new productive investment programmes and creating new employment opportunities.
In the same perspective, it is necessary to strengthen the effectiveness of institutions and change the mentalities of those in charge.
Indeed, the public sector must, without delay, make a triple start in terms of simplification, efficiency and moralization.
Moreover, I have already called for the need to modernize working methods, to show creative zeal and innovation in the management of public affairs.
– Fourthly: the challenge of social and spatial justice to complete the construction of a Morocco that brings hope and equality for all.
A Morocco where blurred disparities and behaviours that generate frustration are disappearing, where existing forms of rent disappear and situations that lead to the loss of time and energy.
We must therefore put an end to negative actions and aspects, by promoting the values of work, responsible commitment, merit and equal opportunities.
Dear people,
The success of this new stage depends on the involvement of the institutions and national bodies concerned, on a firm commitment that will give a new impetus to the dynamics of socio-economic development in our country.
It also requires that everyone mobilize so that the principle that “the interests of the Nation and its citizens must come first” is no longer a formula but that it is given its full substance.
In addition to the essential role of the various national institutions, I insist on the necessary involvement of the Moroccan citizen as the main actor in the successful completion of this new stage.
I therefore invite all Moroccans to contribute to this process, driven by a spirit of active citizenship, because the results to which we aspire, the projects and initiatives we undertake, have a single objective: to improve the living conditions of all citizens.
By God’s will, this new stage will be marked by the launch of a new generation of projects. It therefore requires new skills at different positions and levels of responsibility. New blood must therefore be brought into political, economic and administrative institutions and bodies, including the government.
To this end, on the horizon of next September, We instruct the Head of Government to submit to Our Appreciation, proposals aimed at renewing and enriching the positions of responsibility, both within the Government and in the Administration, by providing them with high-level profiles, chosen according to the criteria of competence and merit.
This does not mean, of course, that the government and public structures do not have competencies within them.
But, We wish to make use of profiles endowed with a new mentality, able to take action to higher levels, to meet the conditions for the success of this new stage, to ultimately accomplish the profound transformation We are calling for.
Dear people,
The celebration of the Glorious Throne Day is the most eloquent expression of our unwavering commitment to the Moroccan nature of our Sahara, our national unity and our territorial integrity. It is also the solemn affirmation of our full and complete sovereignty over the entire territory of the Kingdom.
We are proud of the achievements made by our country at the United Nations, African and European levels. However, we call for constant mobilization at all levels to consolidate these gains and thwart enemy manoeuvres.
Morocco maintains its sincere support for the political process conducted under the exclusive aegis of the United Nations.
Its position of principle is clear: Morocco’s full and complete sovereignty within the framework of the autonomy initiative is the only and only possible way to achieve the desired settlement.
Moreover, no single country can meet the security and development challenges we face alone.
We also reaffirm our sincere commitment to keep our hand outstretched towards our brothers in Algeria, faithful in this respect to the bonds of fraternity, religion, language and good neighbourliness that have always united our two brotherly peoples.
The latest illustration of this proximity dates back to the African Cup of Nations, recently held in the sister country of Egypt, during which the King and the people of Morocco, in a spontaneous and sincere gesture, expressed their sympathy and enthusiastic support for the Algerian team. They joined the Algerian people in sharing their pride, following the victory they deserved at this competition, because they felt that this victory was also theirs.
This deep faith in the community of destiny, underpinned by a common history and civilization, encourages us to work, with hope and optimism, towards the realization of aspirations for unity, complementarity and integration, supported by our brotherly Maghrebi peoples.
Dear people,
Morocco belongs to all Moroccans because it is our common home. That is why each of us, at our own level, must contribute to its construction, development, preservation of its unity, security and stability.
A Morocco that welcomes all its children, that grants them, without exception or discrimination, the same rights and freedoms and that subjects them, with respect for human dignity, to the same duties.
We are currently seized with a moving and deferential thought for the memory of all freedom-loving Moroccans, who have made enormous sacrifices for freedom and independence and have contributed to the building of a modern Morocco, where the key words reign: “development”, “democracy” and “progress”.
We think in particular of Our Auguste Grandfather, the late King Mohammed V and Our Illustrious Father, the late King Hassan II, may God have them in His holy mercy.
We take this opportunity to pay a vibrant tribute to the Royal Armed Forces, the Royal Gendarmerie, the Auxiliary Forces, National Security and Civil Defence, all components combined, for their constant mobilization, under Our command, to defend national unity and preserve the security and stability of the country.
“Allah promised those of you who believe and do good works that He would give them the inheritance on earth as He gave it to those who came before them. True is the word of God.
Wassalamou alaikoum warahmatoullahi wabarakatouh”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlazNG9io
Article complet Throne Day: the entire royal speech (VIDEO) Sur L'Express.