00:00Morocco goes to the polls today in legislative elections that come at a critical moment for
00:05the country. The economy is growing and Morocco is investing heavily in infrastructure, but many
00:11young Moroccans remain frustrated by unemployment, public services and the political system they
00:17often feel disconnected from. So what is really at stake in this election and can it restore
00:23trust in politics? To discuss this, I'm now joined by Aboubakar Jamai, a Moroccan writer and dean of
00:30the Dona Dill Manning School of Global Affairs at the American College of the Mediterranean in
00:35Exxon-Provence. Good morning, good to have you. Good morning, thank you for having me. So some
00:42critics argue that Moroccan elections can change governments without fundamentally changing where
00:47power lies, aka the monarchy. Is that a fair description of the system? Absolutely, suffice to
00:57read the Moroccan constitution and to look at the recent history of Morocco to see that when it comes
01:03to the biggest issues, there are the decision-making processes with the royal cabinet and not with the
01:07parliament. The economy in Morocco has grown, infrastructure has expanded and Morocco is
01:15preparing for the 2030 World Cup, yet many young people feel left behind. Why has economic growth
01:22not translated into enough jobs? Because first of all, these economic growth numbers need to be put
01:29into perspective. So when we talk about growth in Morocco and the last years we had an average
01:34growth of 4%, it might seem impressive from a Western country's perspective, but from an immersion
01:40market perspective, this is not impressive at all because Morocco needs at least 6% to 7% growth,
01:45to absorb only the newcomers to the job market that alone to absorb those who were already unemployed.
01:50The second problem with the Moroccan system is that it's kind of a trickle-down system, which is not
01:56really trickling down resources to the bottom of the pyramid. So you see this very shiny project,
02:02but they do not translate into money in people's pockets and in better jobs.
02:08And finally, yesterday, EPP leader Manfred Weber called on Morocco to take back
02:14all irregular migrants who entered the Spanish enclave Ceuta, warning there would be consequences
02:20if Rabat wouldn't act. Now, what do the elections mean for Morocco's relations with the EU?
02:28I don't think much. The function of a parliament in a hybrid or authoritarian regime is a shock
02:34absorber. So it means that really the equation for the regime is to give a little bit of credibility
02:39because to be a shock absorber, you need to absorb the shock. So you need a little bit of credibility
02:43without having really any political decision-making power. And the real issue here, which is really a
02:50thorny one, is that Morocco will continue producing you discontent. It's in the numbers. It's inevitable,
02:56given the demographic evolution of the country and the failure of the political economic system
03:00to produce jobs. And hence, this migration pressure actually are here to stay with us.
03:06So something creative needs to be found between the EU and Morocco to solve that problem.
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