A King's Headache

High in a snow-swathed cedar grove in the Atlas Mountains, the young King of Morocco stood casting alone for trout in an icy stream. Hassan II enjoyed good luck, which was not surprising since no one else was allowed to fish the well-stocked reserve at the royal resort of Ifrane. Nor were there any messy chores. No sooner would the King hook another prize than five servants rushed to remove the wriggling catch from the royal line.

But for all the outward calm that marked his vacation last week, Morocco's 33-year-old monarch had problems on his mind. They had to do with the outcome three weeks ago of the nation's first legislative election in seven years of independence. Hassan had been proud to take this cautious step toward democracy, but he had also been confident that his own royal party, the F.D.C.I., would win an overwhelming majority of seats of the 144-member House of Representatives.

Things did not work out as planned. Semiofficial results last week confirmed that Hassan's party had won only 69 seats, four short of a majority. Moreover, seven of nine Cabinet ministers running for the House under the King's banner lost their races, and the two opposition parties, the nationalist Istiqlal and the left-leaning National Union of Popular Forces, showed startling strength, winning 43 and 28 seats respectively. If they ganged up in a coalition, the two groups might be able to control the House. Steamed up by their new prestige, opposition leaders were already demanding that the King's present rubber-stamp Cabinet be dissolved and boldly accusing the government of fraud at the polls. Istiqlal politicians even went around to the U.S. embassy complaining that F.D.C.I, had bought votes with U.S. gift wheat.

Hassan had some alternatives, none of them very pleasant: he could make his own coalition with one of the opposition parties, a solution difficult to achieve without losing royal face. Or he could declare a "recount" of votes and rig the results, a course repugnant to the idealistic monarch. Using the constitution he drafted last year, Hassan could even dissolve the House and forget about the democracy he had promised the nation. Wrestling with his dilemma, the King got little sympathy from the opposition. Jeered National Union Leader Abderrakim Benabid:

"It is impossible to play at democrat and dictator at the same time."

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