Granting greater importance to municipal elections in Morocco reflects a noteworthy change in the country's democratic experiment. At the very least, it reflects a shift from the struggle of political positions, distributed left, right and center, to adopting a realistic policy in dealing with the difficulties of development. Late King Hassan II was once asked what he would choose if he were to run for elections. He answered by saying he would prefer to be the head of a municipality or the mayor of a city. When he would visit France, he would always be very keen on praising the experience of his French friend Jacques Chirac, who was Mayor of Paris before he became President of the Republic. Evidently, the political partners in Morocco have, after quite some time, realized that good governance requires coming closer to reality, and that the real measure for choosing programs and intentions lies in handling local affairs that have a direct link to the lives of citizens, their needs, problems and aspirations. It was only natural, after the experience of political alternation, which brought the main political parties of the former opposition to the forefront of government, for other kinds of dilemmas to arise. The phenomenon of abstention since the 1997 elections only reflected the frustration felt towards the obstacles to reaping the fruits of this political transformation. The experiment almost passed, with the demands for constitutional reform which should accompany the development of society, yet it did not give rise to high degrees of dealing with economic and social difficulties, which start from the area of influence on the field of the largest or smallest municipality in the cities and countryside. Although constitutional reforms have fulfilled their role – or nearly so, the reforms that seek to alleviate the burden of social problems, such as poverty, unemployment, marginalization and the lack of infrastructure, have been marking time. Yet the country is still in dire need of development plans that would lay the foundations for the notion of useful Morocco and useless Morocco, especially that the axis that has attracted the greater part of the wagers on development was focused on the region of the Atlantic coastline, between Kenitra, Rabat and Casablanca. On the other hand, it seemed that achieving progress in the Northern and Eastern provinces would require much greater effort towards equal opportunities, benefits and options. When the state agreed to shift many of its non-strategic powers to municipalities and other authorities, it was clearly in the process of establishing a decentralized system that would help narrow the tremendous gap between social classes and administrative authorities. However, ensuring smooth and secure management of local affairs requires elites and cadres, as well as the possibility of turning communal management into a political instrument and an economic and social means to improve the situation of the cities and countryside. To the same extent as the political and legal debate that arose over the municipal elections – scheduled on the 12th of next month (June) – seems encouraging and prompting optimism towards supporting the decentralization system, it has been tarnished by blunders with political backgrounds that bring the conflict of political authorities back to the forefront. Beyond the disputes that have arisen over who has the right to run as candidate and who should be banned from doing so – having changed their political affiliations in order to obtain seats in municipalities and as mayors of cities, those who view things through political goggles outnumber those who open their eyes to reality. The ongoing struggle between numerous positions in the circles of political parties, within the administration and between the folds of the influence of money and pressure lobbies, only means that the experiment is still at its beginning. Nevertheless, the results that will be strengthened by the coming elections need to ponder the kinds of alliances that are expected. It is noteworthy that the formation of municipal councils requires a greater extent of consensus and alliances, even between conflicting movements. The problem is that all of the parties are competing in the absence of an alliance they will necessarily be forced into. It is the difference between the politics of reality and political realism.
