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Africa North | ||
Thousands of Moroccans call for election boycott | ||
2011-11-21 | ||
TANGIER, Morocco: Thousands of Moroccans protested in cities across the country on Sunday calling for a boycott of a parliamentary election later this week which they say will not be truly democratic.
A Reuters reporter in the city of Tangier, across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain, said about 10,000 protesters had gathered in a square in the working class Beni Mkada district. A witness in Casablanca, Morocco's commercial hub, said at least 6,000 people had turned up for a parallel protest, despite heavy rain. Two western diplomats and a resident in the capital, Rabat, put the turnout for a protest there at about 3,000 people. At the Tangier protest, one group of protesters carried a mock casket draped in white with the words "parliamentary elections" written across it. Demonstrators chanted "We are not voting. Long live the people" and "We are not voting because we are not cattle." About 200 police officers, equipped with metal riot shields, helmets and truncheons, cordoned off the square but there were no clashes. One police officer put the number of protesters in Tangier at less than 1,000.
The palace wants the election to clear out a government associated in the minds of many Moroccans with graft and replace it with new faces who will implement the king's reforms. The vote has pitted a party of moderate Islamists, who swear loyalty to the king, against a coalition of mainly liberal parties with close ties to the palace. The movement in support of the boycott is unlikely to derail the election because it does not resonate with the majority of the population, who are not politically engaged and revere the king. | ||
Posted by:Steve White |
#2 They're stable until they get too inbred or degenerate. Just ask Louis XVI or Nicholas II. Don't ask Charles. |
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-11-21 11:28 |
#1 Say what you will about hereditary monarchies, they do result in stable government generally. Although Nepal is a recent exception. |
Posted by: phil_b 2011-11-21 04:45 |