“We are advocating for a democratic constitution that will give real
power to a government that currently still doesn’t have enough weight to
respond to our demands,” said Youness Bensaid, 23, a Casablanca-based
activist.
When the unrest that swept the Arab world after the fall of President
Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia on Jan. 14, 2011, reached Morocco,
King Mohammed VI
responded quickly, introducing a new constitution to grant greater
freedoms with a limited redistribution of power. Protesters scoffed,
calling the changes “cosmetic.”
A year later and with a new government in office, Morocco still faces
huge economic and social challenges. There are frequent cases of
self-immolation such as the one that set off the revolution in Tunisia.
In the northeastern city of Taza, protesters demanding relief from
soaring prices clashed with the authorities in recent days.
Nabila Mounib, secretary general of the Unified Socialist Party — which
is not part of the new government after boycotting elections last year
but which supports the protest movement — went to Taza to evaluate the
situation after about 150 people, including police officers, were hurt.
She said there was an urgent need for the government to improve the
lives of ordinary citizens and to give the young hope for a better
future.
“Morocco’s stability is threatened,” Mrs. Mounib said. “It is absolutely
necessary to take emergency measures at all levels. We need a real
reform of all institutions. The country does not have any
self-respecting economic policy and has a failing education system. The
constitution needs to be reformed and meet international democratic
standards.”
Analysts say the protest movement failed to galvanize large sectors of
society because, after the initial euphoria inspired by the Tunisian
revolution, people were deterred by the chaos in Libya, Syria, Yemen and
Bahrain and by difficulties in Egypt. The Moroccans, they say, are
anxious to preserve stability.
Still, while the uprising of Morocco’s youth brought concessions that
unions and human rights groups had failed to obtain in the previous
decade, observers say that the real victory is a widespread awakening of
political awareness.
“For the first time there is clearly a counterbalance to power — the
people,” said Abdellah Tourabi, a researcher at the Paris Institute of
Political Studies who specializes in Islamic movements in Morocco. “The
‘street’ has become a true political player.”
On Feb. 20, 2011, Mr. Bensaid, a finance student at the Hassan II
University in Casablanca, joined the thousands who took to the streets
to protest the same problems that cripple many Arab countries: social
injustice, corruption and a lack of personal freedoms.
A year later, he feels frustrated, he says. “The communication stunt was
successful,” said Mr. Bensaid, referring to the new constitution.
“Everything that followed was a farce. The king appointed an
undemocratic commission, with members committed to the conservative
nature of the absolute monarchy.”
Observers say that the key difference between Morocco’s uprising and
those in other Arab Spring countries is that the population, deeply
attached to its 1,200-year-old tradition of monarchy, never called for
regime change.
Still, Sunday protests have become a weekly ritual. Except for the
occasional police crackdown, most are peaceful, well organized and
almost celebratory, with cheerful marchers waving placards and chanting
the ills of their country.
Last July, a referendum on the new constitution won 98.5 percent of the
vote. Elections followed on Nov. 25, allowing the moderate Islamists of
the Justice and Development Party to form a new government under Prime
Minister Abdelilah Benkirane.
“The government is taking the necessary measures to implement the new
constitution and to consolidate the rule of law in our country,” the
government spokesman, Mustapha Khalfi, said recently, insisting that
major economic reforms would be pushed through.
“The first question is whether there is going to be a shift in the
balance of power between the king and political institutions,” said
Marina Ottaway, a senior associate at the Middle East Program of the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
“It is not clear to me yet how forceful the Benkirane government will
be,” she said. “The king has taken an exceptional position in the sense
that he has decided to respond to unrest with reforms rather than
repression, but he is no different from other Arab rulers in the sense
that he is determined to keep his power intact. He is just going about
it in a smarter way.”
Meanwhile, the new justice minister, Mustapha Ramid, has started
cracking down on corruption. But protesters say this is not enough and
fear that the government won’t effect radical reforms.
Ms. Ottaway said: “With all the problems of the Arab world, Morocco does
not seem to be a particularly worrisome place. I do not expect an
upheaval now. The question is whether there will be sufficient gradual
reform to prevent an upheaval later on. It depends on the king, but also
on the new government.”
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