Morocco: Thousands protest against ‘high cost and repression’

“People want lower prices. Several thousand Moroccans demonstrated this Sunday in Rabat against the political “dear life and repression” called for by left-wing organizations, against the backdrop of accelerating inflation and rising social discontent. This national march, one of the largest in recent months, drew about 3,000 people in the center of the capital Rabat, according to journalists present, without an official estimate. It was organized by the Moroccan Social Front (FSM), which brings together political parties and left-wing trade unions.

“The people want to overthrow despotism and corruption,” the demonstrators also chanted. “We have come to protest against a government that embodies the union of money and power and supports monopoly capitalism,” said Younes Ferashin, WSF national coordinator.

Morocco has returned “to 2014 levels of poverty and vulnerability” due to the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation, according to a recent note from the High Committee for Planning (HCP). Rising prices (+7.1% YoY in October), higher fuel, food and service costs coupled with an exceptional drought are holding back growth (+0.8% 2022 forecast only). The purchasing power of the poor, as well as the middle class, is particularly affected in a country that already suffers from social and territorial inequalities.

The government puts forward its “social policy”

Demonstrators from across the kingdom also denounced “all forms of political, anti-union repression and freedom of speech, while several bloggers and journalists critical of the government have been imprisoned. “This is an unacceptable regression,” Feracin said.

For their part, pro-Palestinian activists have criticized the normalization of relations with Israel since December 2020, which is not to the liking of a large part of the population. Many Palestinian flags were seen in the parade.

Faced with protests in recent weeks, businessman Aziz Ahannoush’s liberal government is pushing its “social policies,” including universal health insurance. Since the beginning of the month, more than 10 million low-income Moroccans have been admitted to the program. In October, the government also established a sovereign fund with 4.1 billion euros to increase public investment and revitalize the economy of the Maghreb country.