Arutz Sheva - IsraelNationalNews.com
24 December 2002

“Governance is not conceivable without democracy,” said the King.

The king in question was Morocco´s King Mohammed VI, and he made the statement through Moroccan Premier Driss Jettou at the Fourth Global Forum, which was held in Marrakesh. The topic of the forum was Citizens, Businesses and Governments: Dialogues and Partnerships for Democracy and Development, ArabicNews.com reported.

The monarch stated, “Governance is not conceivable without democracy, as is economic and social progress without participation and development without liberty and respect of human rights, hence, the pertinence of the topic chosen for this meeting.” King Mohammed expressed his view that “[t]he new realities in the world impose on governments to ponder other types of national and international governance,” according to the Arab gateway and news website.

Citing Morocco´s own experimentation in the field of governance, the king said that “the Kingdom started the redeployment of the State, reinforced democracy, promoted decentralization, sparked economic liberalization, privileged associative initiatives, encouraged partnerships between the private, the public sectors and the civil society,” reported ArabicNews.com. However, there is a “[l]ong path is yet to go to gain full benefits from the political, democratic, economic and social opportunities offered by the new forms of governance,” King Mohammed reportedly said.