Rabat - Morocco’s head of government Abdelilah Benkirane reportedly wanted to review a section of the Constitution concerning the sacredness of the king during the preparation of the 2011 Constitution.
According to Telquel, Abdelilah Benkirane, said, during his speech at the opening ceremony of the Annual Meeting of the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) on January 30, that he raised the question of sacredness of the king during the drafting process of the Constitution of 2011.
"When there were proposals for the constitution, I asked the adviser to King Mohammed Mohammed Mouatassim to tell the king that the sentence saying "the King's person is sacred" bothers us, as a party.”
Benkirane said that the king wrote back to the party saying that “sacredness is for God and that the king is a citizen.”
During his speech, the Secretary General of Justice and Development Party (PJD) also discussed his relationship with Nabil Benabdellah, PPS’s Secretary General.
"My relationship with Nabil Benabdellah began prior to the formation of this government coalition. During the demonstrations of the 20 February Movement [during the Arab spring], I received an invitation to a dinner from Nabil Benabdellah and Mohamed Sbihi [Current Minister of Culture] to discuss whether or not we were going to participate in events of the movement,” Benkirane said.
“After a long consultation, we have decided not to participate,” he added.
In the context of the popular uprisings that swept across North Africa, Morocco responded by rapidly drafting and adopting a new constitution in July 2011, which brought about several reforms.
Article 46 in the 2011 Constitution stipulates that “the person of the King is inviolable, and respect is owed to him.”
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