Morocco: Protests Over Reform Continue
This post is part of our special coverage Morocco Protests 2011.
On Friday 1 July, 2011, Morocco voted in a referendum on a draft Constitution proposed by King Mohammed VI. Official results show an overwhelming support of the reform, with more than 98 per cent saying ‘Yes’.
Democracy protesters have been calling for the establishment of a parliamentary monarchy with a clear separation of powers. By consecrating the King as head of the State, the Judiciary and the military, the proposed Constitution, the protesters say, fell short of their demands, offering only limited powers to the prime minister and parliament.
The democracy movement contested the results, denouncing widespread irregularities. Bloggers have been sharing videos supposedly showing violations of electoral law during election day.
The blog 24-Mamfakinch published the following video showing unidentified individuals, allegedly tampering with a ballot box well after the closure of the polling station and before any votes were counted:
YouTube user ReferendumMaroc shares this video which shows a large banner erected at the entrance of a polling station in the city of Marrakech, urging people to vote in favor of the draft Constitution. If confirmed, this could be a clear violation of electoral law:
Despite the referendum confirming amendments to the Constitution, thousands took the streets on Sunday rejecting the proposed reform. There were also rallies on Sunday in support of the King, who is still popular.
These videos, respectively from Tangier Rabat and Casablanca, were posted by 24-Mamfakinch:
Protesters say the changes do not go far enough and are pledging to keep up pressure on the regime until what they consider real reforms are implemented.
This post is part of our special coverage Morocco Protests 2011.
4 comments
The images were mixed gatherings both pro and anti with the pro larger than the anti.
The reality is that the Feb movement and the blogosphere are so caught up in dreaming that this is Arab Spring that they have begun to actually forget the most important thing – the will of the people.
When the King announced the referendum, the spontaneous erruption of support on the streets still outnumbers any anti-demonstration which is either the small Feb 20 movement of the Islamists. The remainder and sheer bulk of the population are happy with the direction. A direction which, again forgotten here, is an ongoing process that started 11 years ago, has had major changes and is still continuing to plan.