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The Constitution and our party's field of action

What the Constitution of 2011 says about political parties, the opposition, elections, participation, youth and parity, and the territorial councils to be elected in 2027.

About this page

The provisions come from the text of the Constitution of 2011. Arabic is the wording of the text. The French and English are faithful renderings for readers of those languages. This is a reading aid, not legal advice: only the official Arabic text applies.

Official text (PDF), published by the Ministry in charge of relations with parliament →

On this page

Political partiesThe oppositionElections and powerCivil society and participationYouth and parityTerritorial collectivities: the ground of the communal elections Our party's field of action
Article · 7 · 9 · 29

Political parties

Articles 7, 9 and 29: the place of the party, its freedom and its protection.

Article 7

Political parties

  • Political parties work to organise and give political training to citizens, to strengthen their involvement in national life and in the management of public affairs. They help express the will of the voters and take part in the exercise of power, on the basis of pluralism and alternation, by democratic means and within the constitutional institutions.
  • Parties are founded and carry out their activities freely, within respect for the Constitution and the law. A single-party system is illegitimate.
  • No party may be founded on a religious, linguistic, ethnic or regional basis, nor, in general, on any basis of discrimination or contrary to human rights.
  • Their aim may not be to undermine the Islamic religion, the monarchy, the constitutional principles, the democratic foundations, or the national unity or territorial integrity of the Kingdom.
  • The organisation and running of parties must comply with democratic principles. An organic law sets the rules on their foundation and activities, the criteria for granting them State financial support, and how their financing is monitored.

Article 9

Dissolution of parties

  • Political parties and trade unions may not be dissolved or suspended by the public authorities except by a judicial decision.

Article 29

Freedoms of assembly and membership

  • The freedoms of meeting, assembly and peaceful demonstration, of founding associations, and of trade-union and political membership are guaranteed. The law sets the conditions for exercising them.
Article · 10 · 60

The opposition

Articles 10 and 60: what the Constitution guarantees a party when it is in opposition.

Article 10

Rights of the parliamentary opposition

  • The Constitution guarantees the parliamentary opposition a status that gives it rights enabling it to carry out its tasks fully in parliamentary work and political life.
  • Freedom of opinion, expression and assembly, airtime in the public media in proportion to its representation, and the benefit of public funding as the law provides.
  • Effective participation in the legislative procedure, notably by having bills placed on the agenda of both Houses, and in scrutinising the work of the government, notably through the motion of censure, questioning the government, oral questions to the government and parliamentary fact-finding committees.
  • A contribution to proposing candidates and to electing the members of the Constitutional Court, appropriate representation in the internal activities of both Houses, and the chair of the committee in charge of legislation in the House of Representatives.
  • To have suitable means to carry out its institutional tasks, to contribute actively to parliamentary diplomacy in defence of the just causes and vital interests of the nation, to help organise and represent citizens through its component parties, in accordance with article 7, and to exercise power through democratic alternation at local, regional and national levels, within the Constitution.
  • Opposition groups must contribute to parliamentary work in an effective and constructive way.

Article 60

The place of the opposition

  • The opposition is an essential component of both Houses. It takes part in the functions of legislation and scrutiny, as provided in particular in this title.
Article · 2 · 11 · 30 · 62 · 47 · 61

Elections and power

Articles 2, 11, 30, 47, 61 and 62: how institutions are elected and how a party reaches government.

Article 2

Sovereignty

  • Sovereignty belongs to the Nation, which exercises it directly by referendum and indirectly through its representatives. The Nation chooses its representatives in the elected institutions by free, honest and regular elections.

Article 11

Elections

  • Free, honest and transparent elections are the basis of the legitimacy of democratic representation. The public authorities are bound to complete neutrality towards candidates and not to discriminate between them.
  • The law sets the rules that guarantee fair access to the public media and the full exercise of the fundamental freedoms and rights linked to electoral campaigns and voting. The competent authorities see that they are applied.
  • The law sets the conditions and methods of independent and neutral observation of elections, in line with internationally recognised standards. Anyone who breaks the rules on the integrity, honesty and transparency of electoral operations is punished by law. The public authorities take the means to promote citizens' participation in elections.

Article 30

Electoral rights

  • Every citizen has the right to vote and to stand for election, provided they have reached the legal age and enjoy their civil and political rights. The law provides measures to encourage equal opportunities between women and men in access to elected offices.
  • Voting is a personal right and a national duty.

Article 62

The House of Representatives

  • The members of the House of Representatives are elected by direct universal suffrage for five years. Their membership ends at the opening of the October session of the fifth year after the House is elected.

Article 47

The Head of Government

  • The King appoints the Head of Government from the political party that came first in the elections to the House of Representatives, on the basis of their results.

Article 61

Loss of membership

  • Anyone who abandons the political affiliation under which they stood for election, or the parliamentary group they belong to, loses their membership of either House.
Article · 6 · 12 · 13 · 14 &15

Civil society and participation

Articles 6, 12, 13, 14 and 15: the participation of citizens and associations.

Article 6

Equality and participation

  • The public authorities work to create the conditions that make freedom and equality of citizens effective for all, and their participation in political, economic, cultural and social life.

Article 12

Associations

  • Civil-society associations and non-governmental organisations are founded and carry out their activities freely, within respect for the Constitution and the law. They may not be dissolved or suspended by the public authorities except by a judicial decision.
  • Associations concerned with public affairs and non-governmental organisations contribute, within participatory democracy, to preparing decisions and projects of the elected institutions and the public authorities, and to carrying them out and evaluating them.

Article 13

Consultation bodies

  • The public authorities set up consultation bodies to involve the various social actors in preparing, applying, carrying out and evaluating public policies.

Article 14 &15

Legislative motions and petitions

  • Citizens have, under the conditions and methods set by an organic law, the right to submit legislative motions (article 14). Citizens have the right to submit petitions to the public authorities (article 15).
Article · 33 · 19

Youth and parity

Articles 19 and 33: what concerns the Socialist Youth and the Parity and Equality Forum.

Article 33

Youth

  • The public authorities take suitable measures to widen and generalise young people's participation in the social, economic, cultural and political development of the country, to help young people join active and associative life, and to make culture, science, technology, art, sport and leisure easier for them to reach. A Consultative Council of Youth and Associative Action is established.

Article 19

Parity

  • Men and women enjoy equally the civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights and freedoms. The State works towards parity between men and women and sets up for that purpose an Authority for Parity and the Fight against All Forms of Discrimination.
Article · 135 · 136 · 139 · 140 · 146

Territorial collectivities: the ground of the communal elections

Articles 135 to 146: the communal and regional councils to be elected in 2027.

Article 135

Territorial collectivities

  • The territorial collectivities of the Kingdom are the regions, prefectures, provinces and communes. They are legal persons under public law and manage their affairs democratically. The councils of the regions and communes are elected by direct universal suffrage.

Article 136

Free administration and residents' participation

  • Regional and territorial organisation rests on the principles of free administration, cooperation and solidarity. It ensures the participation of the residents concerned in managing their affairs and increases their contribution to integrated and sustainable human development.

Article 139

Participatory mechanisms and petitions

  • The councils of the regions and of the other territorial collectivities set up participatory mechanisms of dialogue and consultation to make it easier for citizens and associations to contribute to preparing and following development programmes. Citizens and associations may submit petitions asking the council to put on its agenda an item within its competence.

Article 140

Competences

  • On the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, territorial collectivities have their own competences, competences shared with the State and competences transferred to them by the State. Regions and the other collectivities have, in their fields of competence and within their territory, a regulatory power to exercise their functions.

Article 146

The organic laws

  • An organic law sets in particular: the conditions under which regions and the other collectivities manage their affairs democratically, the number of councillors, the rules on eligibility, the cases of incompatibility and the bar on holding several offices, as well as the electoral system and the provisions to improve the representation of women in these councils.
Our party's field of action

Our party's field of action

In two lists: what the Constitution protects, and what it requires. Each line gives the article it comes from.

What the Constitution protects

  • Be founded and act freely (Article 7)
  • Not be dissolved or suspended except by a judicial decision (Article 9)
  • Hold meetings and assemblies and demonstrate peacefully (Article 29)
  • Take part in elections and in the exercise of power on the basis of pluralism and alternation (Article 7, 11, 47)
  • Receive State financial support under the organic law (Article 7)
  • Use the rights of the parliamentary opposition when in opposition (Article 10, 60)
  • Field its members in communal and regional elections and sit on those councils (Article 30, 135)
  • Submit petitions and motions and take part in the participation mechanisms of territorial councils (Article 14, 15, 139)

What it requires

  • Respect the Constitution and the law (Article 7)
  • Not rest on a religious, linguistic, ethnic, regional or discriminatory basis (Article 7)
  • Not undermine the Islamic religion, the monarchy, the constitutional principles, the democratic foundations or national and territorial unity (Article 7)
  • Be organised and run democratically (Article 7)
  • Respect the integrity of electoral operations, or face the penalties (Article 11)
  • Field candidates who meet the conditions to vote and stand, encouraging equal opportunities between women and men (Article 19, 30)
  • Keep its elected members in the party under which they stood, or they lose their seat in parliament (Article 61)

The texts that apply the Constitution

The organic laws on political parties, on the election of the councils of the territorial collectivities and on the communes are in the law library.

Open the law library