Rabat – King Mohammed VI agreed to offer an additional six months to the Special Commission on the Development Model (CSMD), in charge of advising on the country’s development trajectory to effectively meet Moroccans’ needs.
The King ordered the commission to deliver their work no later than early January 2021, a statement from the CSMD said on June 4.
The King granted the extra months in order to allow the commission to “deepen the different aspects of the projected development model and to integrate in its work the implications and transformations engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The additional six-month period will allow the commission to resume and strengthen its approach of co-construction of the development model.
The statement emphasized that the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 disrupted the commission’s work.
“The CSMD will broaden the consultation and listening process in order to better take into account the expectations and proposals of the country’s citizens and forces in the post-COVID context,” the statement said.
King Mohammed VI established the special commission in 2019 after he acknowledged that the country’s current development model failed to meet the expectations of citizens and serve the country’s socio-economic aspirations.
The King had long criticized the previous development model, saying in 2017, “We have to admit that our national development model no longer responds to citizens’ growing demands and pressing needs.”
In his speech on Throne Day in 2019, the monarch said he expects the committee to be “totally impartial and objective, and to report on facts as they are on the ground, however harsh or painful they may be.”
The King also expects the committee to propose bold, effective solutions.
“I want it to be daring and innovative,” the King said.
Moroccan Ambassador to France Chakib Benmoussa chairs the commission. The King appointed him in November 2019.
In April, CSMD launched a website to welcome feedback from Moroccans at home and the diaspora community. CSMD invited citizens to offer their proposals for Morocco’s development model.
The website consists of three portals for citizens to offer their contributions on different subjects: Specific proposals related to their region, reactions to the COVID-19 measures, and general advice on the country’s development model.
