With Covid basically over, is the government decision to keep Morocco under a state of emergency really needed?

Despite a far-reaching drop in Covid-19 cases across Morocco, a government decision to extend the state of health emergency which gives it the authority to take pandemic-related decisions without parliamentary scrutiny is at best questionable and appears uncalled for, constitutional and public law professor Samir Oulkadi told Hespress EN.

Oulkadi’s sentiment is shared by the researcher on health policies, Doctor Tayeb Hamdi who told Hespress EN that the risk associated with the pandemic is over and that two-thirds of the population certainly has hybrid immunity with vaccination and previous infections.

The health emergency decree grants the government authority to enforce covid-19 related decisions without consulting with either parliament or its appointed health committee on Covid.

Theoretically, police and civil workers could still stop citizens and control vaccine passes in public spaces, like restaurants and cafes.

“The government can make, announce, or withdraw the decision in accordance with the same decree, but it may still be debated in parliament in order to respond to citizens’ rights and freedoms,” the constitutional and public law professor said.

This has not been the case. Since the pandemic began, no parliamentary discussion has been had on the state of a health emergency – despite several MP calls to end the absolute legislative mandate allowed for the executive branch.

The government itself, although unofficially, justified the extension of another month under the state of emergency of the rise in Covid-19 cases in France, according to what Professor Moulay Said Afif, a member of the Covid-19 Scientific Committee told Hespress EN.

But France itself lifted the state of health emergency in early August and hasn’t imposed it since, despite experiencing the eighth wave of the pandemic, and recording thousands of cases on a daily basis.

“Even though there is a surge of Omicron sub variants, the risk remains low nationwide and even globally,” Hamdi said. “On the epidemiological and medical levels, Morocco is able to lift the emergency measures with no issues,” he added.

In the past two weeks, the Kingdom reported only two COVID-related deaths, with cases ranging from 7 to 46.