From Casablanca to Rabat via Tangier, Agadir and Fes. Since February thousands of people peacefully took to the streets to demand reforms and fighting corruption. In short, more rights. It is the Moroccan version of the Arab Spring. That, although there was turned into a raging river Tunisian, Egyptian, Libyan and Syrian, in terms of innovative features not lacking anything.
Today, before the remains of the coffee Argana Jamaa F'naa in Marrakech, many fear that all this be overshadowed, the monarchy opt for a new system of police and that the period of reforms initiated in recent weeks end pulverized under the terrorist threat. Before the pressure of the square, the government has recently established a Human Rights Council and the King Mohamed VI has pardoned more than 100 prisoners for political reasons.
Not only that: in recent days the Executive and the unions have announced an increase of 50 € net wage of civil servants with effect from 1 May and pledged to sign a rise in minimum pensions and wages in agriculture. In the program, then there would be the reform of the budget law, which the new version would enhanced the role of parliament with powers to control budget on long-term budget and policy on the workings of government.
This was the recipe with which, until now, the monarchy has responded to the protests of the Movement February 20th, "the 80 networks of civil society gathered in the National Council for support to the movement, NGOs and human rights activists Islamist movement Justice and Charity. A policy, however, that the concessions he mixed the usual repression also evident in the iron fist used by police in demonstrations "minor": March 13 last year, according to Amnesty International, the agents were wounded and dozens of people arrested at least a hundred.
For many protagonists of the events (300 thousand in February, and many more March 20) the openings of the monarchy, however, are not enough. And on Twitter, Facebook and blogs protesters continued to demand full democracy in the whole country, and the revision of Article 19 of the Constitution which defines the king "commander of the believers." The economic and social situation in Morocco, after all, is very delicate.
GDP per capita does not reach the 5 thousand dollars a year, the production system in many areas is still backward and 44% of all employees work in agriculture. If in recent years economic growth was 3% per year on average, the social gap and population growth condemn a good portion of the population to poverty.
According to the IMP index used by the United Nations (in addition to income, there are indicators such as literacy, infant mortality, degree of malnutrition), the poverty rate in 2010 was 28% with 8.9 million poor people. Much worse than in Guatemala, Egypt and Tunisia. Now one of the test beds to see what direction it will move the monarchy, divided between the easy and popular pressure after the assassination of authoritarian Marrakech, will be put into practice or not the promises of the speech on 9 March, when King Mohamed VI announced a forthcoming constitutional reform.
Among his key points, the creation of regional parliaments that would limit the excessive power of governors to appoint real independence of the judiciary. Tiziana Guerrisi 
Today, before the remains of the coffee Argana Jamaa F'naa in Marrakech, many fear that all this be overshadowed, the monarchy opt for a new system of police and that the period of reforms initiated in recent weeks end pulverized under the terrorist threat. Before the pressure of the square, the government has recently established a Human Rights Council and the King Mohamed VI has pardoned more than 100 prisoners for political reasons.
Not only that: in recent days the Executive and the unions have announced an increase of 50 € net wage of civil servants with effect from 1 May and pledged to sign a rise in minimum pensions and wages in agriculture. In the program, then there would be the reform of the budget law, which the new version would enhanced the role of parliament with powers to control budget on long-term budget and policy on the workings of government.
This was the recipe with which, until now, the monarchy has responded to the protests of the Movement February 20th, "the 80 networks of civil society gathered in the National Council for support to the movement, NGOs and human rights activists Islamist movement Justice and Charity. A policy, however, that the concessions he mixed the usual repression also evident in the iron fist used by police in demonstrations "minor": March 13 last year, according to Amnesty International, the agents were wounded and dozens of people arrested at least a hundred.
For many protagonists of the events (300 thousand in February, and many more March 20) the openings of the monarchy, however, are not enough. And on Twitter, Facebook and blogs protesters continued to demand full democracy in the whole country, and the revision of Article 19 of the Constitution which defines the king "commander of the believers." The economic and social situation in Morocco, after all, is very delicate.
GDP per capita does not reach the 5 thousand dollars a year, the production system in many areas is still backward and 44% of all employees work in agriculture. If in recent years economic growth was 3% per year on average, the social gap and population growth condemn a good portion of the population to poverty.
According to the IMP index used by the United Nations (in addition to income, there are indicators such as literacy, infant mortality, degree of malnutrition), the poverty rate in 2010 was 28% with 8.9 million poor people. Much worse than in Guatemala, Egypt and Tunisia. Now one of the test beds to see what direction it will move the monarchy, divided between the easy and popular pressure after the assassination of authoritarian Marrakech, will be put into practice or not the promises of the speech on 9 March, when King Mohamed VI announced a forthcoming constitutional reform.
Among his key points, the creation of regional parliaments that would limit the excessive power of governors to appoint real independence of the judiciary. Tiziana Guerrisi
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