MOROCCO 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 
