Journal of Turkish Weekly
by Andrey Dolmov, JTW
Several hundred demonstrators protested at the weekend in different cities of the country against the slow reform process. According to eyewitness information in Morocco’s largest city, Casablanca, some 1,000 people demonstrated. In the capital were assembled about 300 people at the protests, according to the news agency AFP. Other protests were held in Marrakech and Tangier, with up to 200 protesters.
The protests were mainly directed against the far-spreading corruption and the rising cost of living. In June, the government has cut the subsidies, which has raised the gasoline prices by around 20 percent.
The protests, initiated by human rights groups, trade unions and the so called “movement of the 20th February”, called also for the release of political activists, who were arrested at unauthorized protests and been sentenced to long prison terms.
In the context of the Arab revolution, protests and demonstrations also have been set up in Morocco, in which reforms and more political freedom was demanded.
The Moroccan King, Mohamed VI, promised reforms with the start of the protests. In June 2011, a new constitution was introduced, which was announced by the king as a “profound restructuring”. After in January the party for an equitable development, PJD was elected as the representative of the “movement of the 20th February”, the king has lost a lot of his support.
According to a report by the World Bank from May, 30 percent of Moroccan young people between 15 and 29 are unemployed.
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