Rabat – Morocco has climbed four places in the Democracy Index for 2019, scoring 5.10 points out of 10.
Released on Wednesday, the Democracy Index is compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a research division of the British press group ‘’The Economist.’’
The annually published chart measures the state of democracy in 167 countries based on 60 criteria and grouped within five indicators: Electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture, and civil liberties.
Morocco moved up from the 100th position in 2018, to the 96th position in 2019. According to the report, Morocco falls into the category of hybrid systems between “authoritarian regimes” and “flawed democracies.”
Morocco’s score has consistently improved since the beginning of the survey in 2006 when it scored only 3.90.
Morocco is the second most democratic country in the MENA region behind Tunisia, ranking 53rd globally.
Read also: Officials: Fight Against Corruption National Priority for Morocco
Lebanon comes 3rd in MENA region (106th globally), followed by Algeria (113th), Jordan (114th), Kuwait (114th), Mauritania (116th), Palestine (117th), Iraq (117th), and Qatar (128th).
At the Continental level, Tunisia came first in Africa, followed by Lesotho (60th), Namibia (65th), Senegal (82nd), Madagascar (85th), Malawi (87th), Liberia (88th), Kenya (94th), Morocco (96th), and Benin (97th).
The EIU shortlisted 10 countries as the top democratic globally, namely Norway, Iceland, New Zealand, Finland, Ireland, Denmark, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
The EIU’s Democracy Index results corroborate previous reports about the corruption and democracy situation in Morocco.
According to a survey conducted by Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) – Middle East and North Africa in 2019, 47% of Moroccans are dissatisfied with the level of democracy in the country.
