Communal charter to be revised to set up new decentralization framework, interior minister says

Moroccan interior minister, Driss Basri, said recently the communal charter, which governs local councils since 1976, will be revised with a view to setting up a new decentralization frame in Morocco.

King Hassan II gave his green light to revising the charter in order to adapt it to the changes that took place in Morocco, Basri said at a meeting of the regional development and decentralization commission.

The commission was set up part of the preparations for the five-year development plan 1999-2003.

Basri also touched on the restructuring of the regions, raised to the level of local councils by a 1996 constitutional amendment. He said the government will try to empower the regions with the means necessary for the carrying out of their actions.

By virtue of a constitutional amendment, approved by popular referendum in 1996, the region was elevated to the rank of local council. The amendment, which warded Morocco into 16 regions, vests the new entities with large prerogatives in matters of local affairs management.