The Moroccan government has banned peaceful demonstrations and violently squelched attempted protest rallies following the April 29 terrorist attack in a Marrakesh cafe that left 16 people dead, according to the New York Times. This is despite promised government reforms following a February 2011 pro-democracy movement influenced by protests in the Middle East and North African region dubbed by many as the “Arab Spring.”
The government said last week that a first outline of proposals has been submitted by the reform commission but did not give specifics as to content of the report.
Critics and observers of the Moroccan regime, however, fear that the April 29 bombing is being used as a pretext to halt pro-democratic change.
“The reform process is stalled because the regime is still unwilling to reform and the Marrakesh bombing provides an easy excuse (to justify inaction to critical international allies)”, said Abdeslam Maghraoui, a political science professor at Duke University.
There is a glimmer of hope, however, that change may occur. Unlike the 2003 terrorist attack in Casablanca, the government limited its response to detaining six people suspected of direct involvement rather than launching wide scale arrests. Activists are hoping that the reforms lead to a parliamentary system of government with a distinct separation of powers, said Kader Abderrahim, a researcher at the Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies in Paris.
