It
is a great pleasure for me to extend to Mr. Al-Nasser
my sincere congratulations on his election as President
of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session. His
election reflects the esteem enjoyed by the brotherly
State of Qatar and the Arab world as a whole. We are
45 11-51384
confident that his rich diplomatic experience will
ensure a successful session. I also take this opportunity
to pay tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Joseph Deiss, for
his successful efforts throughout his presidency.
We also reiterate our congratulations to Mr. Ban
Ki-moon on his reappointment as Secretary-General.
We highly value the initiatives undertaken during his
first mandate, in particular the establishment of
UN-Women. I also reiterate our strong support for the
priorities set by the Secretary-General for his second
term.
This session is taking place in a sensitive
international context. The world is facing acute and
complex crises, some of which are structural and
persistent, including climate change and the food
crisis, while others are circumstantial, such as the
unprecedented financial crisis and devastating nuclear
accidents. Yet others, too, have had profound impacts,
such as the financial crisis that became a global
economic crisis with destabilizing social and political
consequences. A decade after the horrific events of
9/11, there is also the continued threat of international
terrorism with its growing links to transnational
organized crime in all its aspects. In addition, national
and international tensions and armed conflict persist.
Such a critical situation has rarely been witnessed
by the world. We are therefore called upon to reflect
objectively on the following questions: What type of
United Nations do we want in the face of these issues
and challenges? How can we ensure that the United
Nations will serve as an influential and efficient legal
and political framework for the collective management
of global affairs? How can we ensure the effectiveness
of the Organization’s bodies and organs in adapting to
the fast-changing world? And finally, how do we
confirm the role of the Organization as the principal
axis of a multilateral system based on solidarity and
coordination with new international groupings of
limited membership that are endowed with the ability
to promptly respond to new events?
These questions are not based on an idealistic
approach but emanate from our deep belief in the
highly important and unique role of the United Nations
as a framework and reference for efficient and just
global governance, based on solidarity, and which
draws its legitimacy from its global membership and
the capital it has accumulated since its establishment.
To be effective, global governance must serve as
the natural extension of national, regional and
subregional governance. All Member States should
shoulder their responsibilities in adopting appropriate
measures and actions at the national level so as to lay
the foundation for and consolidate good governance.
On that basis, the Kingdom of Morocco opted
several decades ago to establish a democratic State
based on good governance, guaranteed individual
freedoms, the dignity of its citizens and respect for
human rights, while upholding the principles of
equality, equal opportunity and social justice, as well
as the struggle against marginalization and social
exclusion. The Kingdom, through the insightful vision
of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has also based the
establishment of a democratic and advanced society on
two interdependent pillars: strengthened political
reform and the realization of human development.
The recent adoption of the Kingdom’s new
Constitution was an historic landmark in this
distinctive process and highlighted the cohesion among
all components of the Moroccan nation with its
multiple branches. It consolidates the principles of the
separation and balance of powers while preserving the
full independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.
It also defines the rights and duties of citizenship and
lays the foundations for political and economic
governance through regulatory, mediation,
representation and accountability institutions. It also
strengthens women’s participation in politics and social
and economic development. In that context, broad
regionalization enjoys a central role in the innovative
constitutional architecture. It serves as the backbone of
community democracy aimed at achieving
development based on balance and solidarity among all
regions of the Kingdom.
The Arab world is witnessing profound events
and transformations that, on the one hand, highlight
legitimate aspirations to freedom, dignity, progress and
universal values that are shared by all regions, cultures
and religions. Those events also show, on the other
hand, that social and economic development cannot be
achieved without political transparency and the
evolution of democracy for the benefit of individuals
and communities. There can be neither progress nor
stability in the context of political stagnation,
ideological closure, the erosion of legitimacy and the
absence of any renewed or peaceful transfer of political
power.
11-51384 46
Lastly, those events have also shown that each
Arab country has the capacity to build a political
system that reconciles universal values and national
specificities, and that combines necessary openness
and the preservation of cultural and civilizational
identity. In that regard, Morocco welcomes the
institutional progress made by Tunisia and Egypt and
calls on the international community to support the
efforts of those two brotherly peoples on the complex,
promising and sensitive path of democratic transition.
Morocco also expresses welcomes the delegation
of the National Transitional Council of the new Libya,
which aspires to a better future based on transparency,
reconciliation and consolidation of the rule of law. In
light of the solidarity and brotherly links between the
peoples of Morocco and Libya, Morocco has from the
very beginning supported the legitimate aspirations of
the Libyan people and the actions of the National
Transitional Council at the national and international
levels.
Morocco is also confident that Libya will regain
its natural international position within the Maghreb
countries. Moreover, Morocco hopes to see concerted
Arab action to prevent further bloodshed and guarantee
peaceful resolution of the crises in brotherly Syria and
Yemen through the announced profound, substantive
reforms and based on territorial integrity and ensured
stability.
Those aspirations and changes reflect the free
will of the peoples and require the effective and serious
support of their Arab brothers and partners, in full
respect for their national specificities, while taking into
account each country’s progress in the democratization
process. In that context, Morocco highly appreciates
the Group of Eight’s response through the Deauville
partnership.
Morocco believes that, in addition to its financial
support, that promising partnership will act as an
incentive by encouraging the five Arab beneficiary
countries to rely on their own capacities to enhance
economic integration, on the one hand, and to share
good experiences and best practices in the field of
democratization and constitutional reforms, on the
other. Morocco is willing to work with its brothers in
this framework based on the progress it has made in
political openness and its experience in the field of
democratic transition and distinctive constitutional
reform.
The events and challenges in the Arab world also
highlight the need for renewed regional governance
based on the effective integration of harmonious and
coordinated groupings, such as the Maghreb Arab
Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Agadir
Agreement for the Establishment of a Free Trade Zone
between the Arabic Mediterranean Nations. The latter
could be enlarged to include other Arab and
Mediterranean countries and could extend its activities
to areas of democratic reform and political dialogue.
This new governance seeks, under the aegis of the Arab
League, to create a new regional Arab order with
innovative mechanisms and renewed foundations, to
serve human development, economic integration and
democratic openness, and to prevent conflicts and the
danger of separatism.
It is clear that a final settlement to the Palestinian
issue is a necessary factor in accelerating the pace of
the ongoing Arab endeavour in the interests of all
peoples of the region. The question of Palestine is
today at a historical turning point. It is characterized by
the absence of any prospect of negotiation, the ongoing
settlement programmes, and the Israeli policy of
detention, annexation, destruction and displacement,
particularly in Jerusalem, as well as collective
punishment and the disproportionate use of force
against civilians, as reported by the United Nations in
the report on the freedom flotilla.
Due to the rejection by the Israeli Government of
constructive international initiatives and proposals by
the sponsors of the peace process, the situation has
deteriorated, and prospects have faded for the relaunch
of a serious and genuine negotiating process on the
final settlement, in step with reciprocal commitments.
It is time for the United Nations, through its various
organs and using all available mechanisms, to shoulder
its full responsibility by enabling the Palestinian
people, under the leadership of its National Authority,
to achieve all its legitimate national rights, in harmony
with efforts to strengthen the foundation of an
independent Palestinian State and taking into account
the momentum of international support and
recognition.
Morocco has always been the first to defend the
choice of peace and the brotherly Palestinian people in
its struggle, and today it cautions against the stalemate
in the peace process, its underlying dangers and the
prevalence of the logic of force. It reiterates its support
for the request of the Palestinian Authority, in the
47 11-51384
person of President Mahmoud Abbas, for Palestine to
become a full Member of the United Nations as a
sovereign State on the basis of the 1967 borders, with
East Jerusalem as its capital. Morocco, under the
leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI,
Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation, will spare no
effort in contributing to all constructive initiatives and
supporting all actions towards the realization of that
goal as soon as possible.
Moreover, our collective goal should be the
revival of the peace process on the basis of clear terms
of reference, a comprehensive agenda, a precise time
frame, an innovative negotiating methodology, and the
effective and strong involvement of the Quartet. In that
regard, the Kingdom of Morocco welcomes the
positive signals in the recent statement made by the
Quartet.
Consistent with its vision of solidarity and
integration in the Arab region, Morocco is engaged in
broad consultations with the members of the Gulf
Cooperation Council with a view to establishing an
advanced and substantive partnership in various
strategic, political, economic, social, human and
security fields. Morocco, which has strong ties with all
members of that important regional group, wishes to
establish a new model of concrete and distinctive
partnership that would contribute broadly to
sustainable development, stability and the containment
of the threats to the security, territorial integrity and
high interests of our countries. In that context,
Morocco reiterates its support for the legitimate rights
of the United Arab Emirates with regard to its three
occupied islands.
Morocco’s Maghreb, Arab, Islamic,
Mediterranean and African dimensions, as well as its
commitment to strengthening South-South cooperation,
as enshrined in its new Constitution, contribute to the
diversity of the issues on which Moroccan foreign
policy is based, consistent with its aspirations to
establish regional governance founded on consultation,
dialogue and solidarity. Recent reforms undertaken in
the Maghreb countries could give new impetus to
Maghreb integration, consistent with the aspirations of
the five peoples of the region and their efforts to
achieve development and stability.
In that context, Morocco has worked relentlessly
to activate bilateral relations with brotherly Algeria
through ministerial visits, which it hopes will pave the
way towards a comprehensive normalization between
the two countries, including the reopening of land
borders in accordance with the principle of
constructive good-neighbourliness.
Inspired by the same will, Morocco reiterates its
full commitment to pursuing and intensifying the
negotiations to find a mutually acceptable political
solution to the regional dispute over the Moroccan
Sahara, on the basis of the Moroccan autonomy
initiative that the Security Council, through six
successive resolutions, has deemed to be serious and
credible. This bold and realistic initiative takes into
consideration, within the framework of the Kingdom’s
territorial integrity and sovereignty, standards of
international legitimacy that go beyond unilateral
restrictive interpretations that can only aggravate the
status quo and lead to deadlock.
Security Council resolution 1979 (2011) renewed
the emphasis on the fundamental guidelines of the
negotiating process by calling for all parties to enter
into substantive and serious negotiations and to show
realism and a spirit of compromise to reach a midway
solution, while urging neighbouring countries to fully
engage in the process of negotiations. It is high time
for each party to shoulder its responsibilities,
particularly in the light of the events taking place in the
region, with a view to working seriously and in good
faith to reach a final political compromise solution to
this fabricated regional dispute. There is also an urgent
need to meet the aspirations of our brothers in the
camps in Tindouf, Algeria, where they are denied their
most basic human rights and any hope for the future.
From this rostrum, I reiterate the persistent need
to achieve effective Maghreb integration in the context
of the Arab Maghreb Union as an open, complementary
and democratic framework to serve the interests of the
peoples of the five countries — the Greater Maghreb.
Such integration should contribute in an effective and
innovative manner to the present dynamic in the Arab
world. The Arab Maghreb should actively contribute to
Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, in particular in the
context of the Union for the Mediterranean, and to
development and stability in the Sahelo-Saharan
region. It should be in the position to overcome
terrorist threats and the related dangers of transnational
organized criminal networks.
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King Mohammed VI made Africa the top priority
of Moroccan foreign policy in October, promoting
cooperation and solidarity in order to meet political,
social, economic and security challenges hampering
comprehensive development in the continent. With the
same commitment, Morocco has contributed positively
to international and regional efforts to settle several
conflicts, including through its early and ongoing
participation in United Nations peacekeeping
operations. In Africa, in particular, Morocco has
actively supported transitional democratic processes in
Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger, among others.
Convinced of the need to develop and strengthen
a common coordination and negotiation mechanism
among African countries, Morocco has worked in
cooperation with its African brothers to launch the
Ministerial Conference of African Atlantic States with
the aim of optimizing cooperation opportunities under
that common mechanism to overcome common
challenges, in particular those related to security and
environment.
There is no doubt that achieving the goal of
sustainable development in developing countries,
particularly in Africa, remains a daunting challenge,
given the persistent gap between international
development assistance and the heavy debt burden of
developing nations. In that context, we support the
small and island countries of the Caribbean Sea and the
Pacific and Indian Oceans in their efforts under the
Mauritius Strategy.
With that clear vision and constructive
approaches reflecting the balance between domestic
and foreign policy priorities, the Kingdom of Morocco
calls on the States members of the General Assembly to
support its candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the
Security Council for the biennium 2012-2013, in
accordance with the rotation principle of the African
Group. That bid reflects Morocco’s aspirations to serve
peace and stability, strengthen solidarity and uphold
universal ideals. Above all, it serves the goal of
maintaining international peace and security as a clear
constitutional commitment of the Kingdom. It
enshrines our more than 50 years of pioneering
experience, during which more than 50,000 Moroccan
peacekeepers have served in United Nations
peacekeeping operations worldwide.
In that context, Morocco is participating actively
in the work of the Peacebuilding Commission, which is
an effective instrument to promote international
solidarity with countries emerging from conflict and
those starting a peacebuilding and national
reconciliation process. In that spirit and to strengthen
its partners for peace, Morocco is deeply and
transparently committed to implementing its
international obligations on disarmament and the
non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Its candidacy will support enhanced solidarity
among developing countries through South-South
cooperation and the creation of mechanisms based on a
new vision that will include humanitarian assistance to
confront natural disasters and the food crisis,
particularly in sub-Saharan African countries, as well
as the Caribbean and Pacific island States. Financial
and technical assistance will be provided to the
economic and social sectors, including agriculture,
health care, water and electricity. We currently host
more than 9,000 students from 42 countries, among
whom 8,000 have been granted Moroccan scholarships.
Finally, Morocco’s candidacy represents the
promotion of universal values. Thanks to its diversity
and openness, the Kingdom of Morocco has always
served as a crossroads of civilizations — a land of
peace, tolerance and coexistence among cultures and
religions. Moreover, given its true commitment to the
universal values of human rights, the Kingdom has
taken several initiatives aimed at strengthening the
culture of human rights. It also played a an important
part in establishing the Human Rights Council review
mechanisms, given its leading role in that United
Nations body.
We are truly confident that the support of the
members of the Assembly for the Moroccan candidacy,
which represents a specific regional context, will
provide the Kingdom, during its mandate in the
Security Council, with the distinct opportunity to
address, in a constructive and balanced manner, the
sensitive matters on the Council’s agenda involving
Arab and African issues.