Morocco King to lose some powers under reforms, remain key figure-draft

RABAT, June 17 (Reuters)

 Morocco’s reformed constitution will make officials more accountable and will give the government greater powers, but King Mohammed will remain a key power-broker in the security, military and religious fields, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

After facing the biggest anti-establishment protests in decades, King Mohammed in March ordered a hand-picked committee to conduct consultations with political parties, trade unions and civil society groups on constitutional reform with a brief to trim the monarch’s political powers and make the judiciary independent.

In the final draft of the reformed constitution, viewed by Reuters and authenticated by a government official, King Mohammed will keep exclusive control over military and religious fields and allows him to pick a prime minister from the party that wins parliamentary elections.

The reformed constitution allows the king to delegate the task of chairing ministers’ council meetings to the prime minister on a previously-agreed agenda. Such meetings can decide on the appointments of provincial governors — powerful representatives of the interior ministry at regional levels — and ambassadors, a prerogative currently exclusive to the king.

The monarch can still dissolve parliament but after consulting a newly-introduced Constitutional Court, of which half the members are to be appointed by the king.