As the results of the Moroccan election on 24 November 2011 come in, it is interesting to go back to a program in the series Inside Story, broadcast on the international news service, Al Jazeera, on 19 June 2011 which considered whether the Moroccan people were "buying" the changes promised by King Mohammed VI as part of a "historic transition" into democracy.
{youtube}7X0Vnj1bYKo{/youtube}
Since then the King put the changes to the constitution to the people in a referendum which was approved in July and now he is called a general election which international observers have assessed as fair.
It seems that a moderate Islamist party has won, and the King will call the leader to form a government. The experience in Morocco and in Jordan demonstrates the value of constitutional monarchy over politicians’ republics.
The Arab experience of course is confirmed by what happened in earlier years in Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt and earlier Syria where monarchies were overthrown and replaced by republics which have become increasingly undemocratic and brutal in their treatment.