THE NEW ISLAMISTS
Moroccans Fear That Flickers of Democracy Are Fading
Published: December 10, 2012
(Page 2 of 2)
In August, he suffered what some saw as a serious public humiliation when an outdoor event at which he was to be the main speaker, planned months ahead of time, was abruptly canceled the night before by the Interior Ministry for reasons that remain unclear.
The New York Times
Morocco, strategically important, is just south of Spain.
Articles in this series are exploring the rise of political Islam in the Middle East, as Islamic movements struggle to remake the Arab world.
Samuel Aranda for The New York Times
Moroccans at a rally of the Justice and Development Party in September.
“I think there are functionaries in the ministries who have not yet changed,” said Imane Yakoubi, a member of the governing board of the Justice and Development Party’s youth league.
When Mr. Benkirane spoke to the crowd in Tangier, he rarely addressed any concrete issues. He pledged his loyalty to the king and proclaimed that the two had a good relationship and that anyone who said otherwise was a liar. Yet he repeatedly talked of the ways in which an unnamed “they” undermined his efforts and spread lies, a subject he took up again last week in Parliament.
In a rare interview on Al Jazeera recently, he said democracy was advancing slowly, but surely. “If you thought the Benkirane government was going to end corruption in six months,” he said, “there is a problem with expectations there.”
But some say the underlying issue is that the new Constitution — drafted by a committee appointed by the king — did not go nearly far enough in shifting power to elected officials. The king remains head of the Council of Ministers and the Ulama Council, which runs the mosques. He also runs the military, the security forces and the intelligence service. He even chooses the prime minister, though he must choose from the majority party.
“We find ourselves with a Constitution that allows us to only pretend that things have changed,” said Fouad Abdelmoumni, an economist and an activist involved in the pro-democracy movement who was jailed under Hassan II, the king’s father.
Supporters see it differently. They say that the Constitution is exactly what the people wanted, as it was put to a referendum. They say Morocco is developing a unique way — a “third path” to democracy. “We are in a period of emergence,” said Mokhtar el-Ghambou, who is helping to found Rabat International University. “Morocco is in a democratic process. It is not yet a democracy. That needs time. We are not there yet.”
Certainly King Mohammed VI has proved himself to be far different from his father, who imprisoned thousands of his opponents and made many disappear. When he ascended to the throne in 1999, he established a reconciliation commission to acknowledge some of the worst abuses of his father’s rule. And he has also expanded women’s rights, a move that put him at odds with Morocco’s conservative Muslims.
But the king’s popularity remains something of an open question. Polling on this issue is illegal.
Those involved in street protests over the past year say that they have faced widespread brutality. In February, protesters took to the streets in Taza complaining about unemployment and an abrupt rise in the cost of electricity. But these days their banners sit in a puddle in the corner of the barely furnished offices of Mohammed Chiabri, who leads the local branch of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights. “It is just too hard to keep going,” Mr. Chiabri said of the protests. “They used so much violence against the protesters that people just stopped.”
Still, even those who are disappointed by the slow pace of change doubt whether Moroccans have the stomach for a second Arab Spring. “Moroccans like their comfort zone,” said Fadel Abdellaoui, a young businessman. “They see Syria, Libya, and they say, ‘O.K., we will be going slow.’ ”
No comments:
Post a Comment