Women in Politics
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy currently led by King Muhammed VI, who presides over the Council of Ministries. The king shares executive power with the Prime Minister of Morocco, the head of government, who he appoints based on the political party with the most votes. The Prime Minister nominates potential government representatives, and then the king makes the final approval of those candidates. Therefore, the king and the Prime Minister share a great responsibility in determining government representation. The current king is known to be more progressive than previous leaders, giving hope to the new generation of aspiring politicians, especially women.
Notable measures of women's participation in politics have been made in the past few years, largely due to the quota system. Introduced in 2002 at the national level, the system's goal was to guarantee female political involvement, and it expanded to regional levels in 2009. Since then, women's sections and committees in politics have increased, but this has simultaneously led to the fear that they will become more marginalized in political groups within their parties. Even more recently this past October, the king appointed 24 new ministers, seven of which were women, who now stand as a beacon of hope for their country's progress. However, although this is an increase in representation from the previous four female ministers, there is still much work to be done in fully leveling the playing field for Moroccan women in politics.
The heart of politics is human connections, and connection is difficult to do when you are limited in your social abilities. Often times male politicians and officials meet to discuss ideas and make decisions in "male" settings, such as cafes or during late night settings, which are both considered inappropriate for women to participate in. Therefore, Moroccan social structure may prohibit women from this knowledge and advantage of networks. There is also an underlying fear that women will not be able to sustain their careers while also juggling the responsibilities of family life. Further, women are typically assigned more "feminine" roles in the workforce such as educators or in social work, limiting their potential for education and growth in political representation.
In my time in Morocco, I have seen the social divide between men and women in different ways. Many cafes and restaurants on the street have their tables filled with men, but very rarely did I see a Moroccan woman joining them. Although it may seem mundane, it is this very foundation of society that manifests itself in greater ways and even on the national scale.
References:
UNESCO Digital Library:
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000246962.locale=en
Chefchaouen is an early example of women in power. In the mid 1500's, the "Free Woman" known as Fatima held sovereign power over the city, not sharing it with any man.
Ellie, I loved learning a bit more about the Moroccan political system from your blog post. I appreciate how you detailed the different ways in which power is shared between the King and the Prime Minister and how the country is progressing toward including women to have political voices. I never thought about how the places in which it is acceptable to meet and interact would keep women marginalized in the political system, though the idea is the political system should be more open to them now. This makes me think of how underrepresented minorities are often assigned special groups to be the token representative for their group and are expected to represent all of that minority. However, throughout the underrepresented group there may be multiple viewpoints that should be considered. This is why it is important to have a diverse set of women on the political scene to represent multiple perspectives. From your experience in Morocco, have you seen many women who maintain careers outside the home and are not expected to maintain their responsibilities there but instead hire others to aid in those responsibilities? Is this even a possibility in Moroccan culture?
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