Demonstrations for democratic reforms took place in Morocco from the end of January 2011. However, the population did not demand the fall of the regime. Since 1999, when King Mohammed VI succeeded his father Hassan II, the country has had a relatively mild regime that introduced changes itself. Moreover, the royal family was popular among the population. But the unequal distribution of wealth, as well as corruption and the slow political reform process, caused dissatisfaction.
Previous reforms
At the initiative of King Mohammed, the Moroccan government introduced a number of important changes after the turn of the century. One of these concerned the emancipation of women, another concerned the reckoning with a very repressive past.
Family legislation
On October 10, 2003, the king announced proposals for Moroccan family legislation – the mudawana – to modify. The principle of ‘obedience of the wife to the husband’ was abolished and the family became the ‘common responsibility’ of husband and wife. The king declared that the changes were ,perfectly in keeping with the spirit of our tolerant religion.,
The main proposals were:
- The marriageable age of girls was raised from fifteen to eighteen and they no longer needed permission from their father or brother to marry. Women were given property rights within marriage.
- Polygamy was restricted. A man who wanted multiple wives needed permission from his first wife and from a judge. When concluding the marriage, the woman could have it recorded that the man was not allowed to take a second wife. If the man did this anyway, it was a valid reason for the first wife to file for divorce.
- The man could no longer end the marriage purely by decision of his will. This repudiation was only possible with the permission of a judge.
Women’s groups had been campaigning for changes to the mudawana for years, but previous government proposals in this direction met with great resistance in conservative Islamic circles. To achieve a breakthrough, Mohammed appointed a Royal Commission on which both sides were represented. Both the Democratic Association of Women in Morocco (ADFM) and the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) responded positively to the plans.
On January 16, 2004, the Moroccan parliament approved the bill.
King Hassan II / Source: FELICIA L. WILSON, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
National reconciliation
In January 2004, Mohammed established the Justice and Reconciliation Commission (IER) to help the country come to terms with human rights violations under the rule of his father Hassan II. The seventeen-member committee was tasked with locating detention centers and assisting and compensating survivors.
On December 21, a start was made on hearing public testimonies broadcast by radio and television about the period 1956-1999, with an emphasis on the 1960s and 1970s. These included disappearances, torture and deaths in prisons. The committee had received a total of about twenty-two thousand files.
At the end of December 2005, the committee concluded in its final report that in the aforementioned period, 322 people had been shot dead by government forces during protests and that 174 detainees had died in prison. In addition, the graves of 85 people who had been locked up in secret prisons and had died had been identified. There had also been many injuries sustained in captivity, as well as sexual abuse.
A total of 16,861 people told their story, of whom 9,280 were eligible for financial compensation, according to the committee . The last compensation arrangements were completed in April 2009.
King Mohammed VI / Source: U. Dettmar ABr, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-3.0)
Protests
After a number of smaller demonstrations, many thousands of people gathered on February 20, 2011 in the capital Rabat and in cities such as western Marrakech and northern Larache. The organizers spoke of one hundred and forty thousand demonstrators throughout Morocco. The next day, they said, three hundred thousand people protested, but the authorities kept it at thirty-seven thousand.
There was little government violence, although the city of Tangier, in the north of the country, reported police cracking down on demonstrators and making arrests. Furthermore, shops were looted and government buildings attacked in a number of cities. On February 21, Interior Minister Taieb Cherqaoui reported that five people had been killed the day before when vandalism burned down a bank in the northern city of Al-Hoceima.
After smaller protests on February 26, large demonstrations were planned for the following day, most of which were banned by local authorities. In Kenitra, a city north of Rabat, riot police used batons against hundreds of demonstrators. Peaceful demonstrations in the northern city of Agadir and in Al-Hoceima were ended with violence. In the western city of Casablanca, several thousand people demanded democratic reforms. Several thousand people also demonstrated in Rabat, without any intervention. Finally, unconfirmed reports reported a large protest march in the northern city of Fez.
On April 24, thousands of people took to the streets again in several cities. The demonstrations took place without violence. But on May 29, police in Casablanca cracked down, using batons to disperse the crowds, leaving dozens injured. The authorities pointed out that the demonstration was banned and that the behavior of the participants was provocative.
Protesters in Casablanca on June 9 / Source: Magharebia, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-2.0)
Constitutional amendments
King Mohammed announced constitutional changes in a televised speech on March 9 that aimed to expand individual and collective freedoms. A committee in collaboration with political parties, trade unions and civil society organizations would come up with proposals that would then be submitted to the population in a referendum.
On June 17, Mohammed presented a draft text in which the king was no longer referred to as ‘holy’ but as ‘inviolable’. However, he remained captain of the armed forces and ‘leader of the faithful’ in Morocco. However, his political power was clearly reduced.
The prime minister would no longer be appointed by the king but would be appointed by the largest political party. From now on, the prime minister was also allowed to appoint and dismiss ministers, a power that then only the king had. He could also propose, albeit with the king’s consent, to dissolve parliament. Parliament itself would have more freedom to draft laws.
Furthermore, there were guarantees for the independence of the judiciary and the influence of the regions was increased. Women’s rights, which had previously been significantly expanded by law, would also be further strengthened.
Position Berbers
On the same day that the constitutional amendments were presented, the king announced the official recognition of the Berber language, Amazigh. In the future, in addition to Arabic, they could also contact authorities such as the court and the police in their own language.
Earlier, under the rule of Mohammed, the Berbers had been given the right to education in their own language. A royal institute had also been set up for the preservation and development of Berber language and culture.
Young demonstrators on June 5 / Source: Magharebia, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-2.0)
February 20 Movement
The constitutional amendment was prepared through consultation rounds in political and social organizations. They were generally positive about the reform proposals.
On June 19, however, thousands of disaffected young people took to the streets in the cities of Casablanca, Marrakech, Rabat and Tangier. They belonged to the February 20 movement, named after the first day of mass demonstrations, and felt that the reforms did not go far enough. In Casablanca and Rabat, demonstrators were attacked by pro-government activists who threw stones, eggs and bottles. According to the movement, this was a government-organized intimidation campaign.
The radical demonstrators criticized, among other things, the fact that the king remained head of the army and the highest legal authority. According to the new proposals, it also still had the power to declare a state of emergency.
Referendum result disputed
On July 1, the population could vote on the constitutional changes in a referendum. The radical part of the opposition boycotted the referendum, not only on substantive grounds but also because opponents would hardly get any space in the media. The government conducted an active campaign and instructed all imams to call on mosque visitors to vote in favor. It was also alleged that the government was buying votes, especially among illiterate people in rural areas. The referendum itself passed without incident and large numbers of supporters and opponents gathered in the streets of Rabat.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, turnout was almost 73 percent. Of them, 98.5 percent would have agreed to the constitutional changes. Critics doubted the official figures or outright labeled them fraudulent. The referendum prompted many thousands of supporters and opponents to take to the streets again on July 3. The same pattern of division repeated itself on July 17. The annoyance about the constitutional changes continued, because on September 25 thousands of people in Morocco once again expressed their dissatisfaction.
This article is part of a special on the Arab Spring. This includes Mauritania, Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, Yemen and Libya.