On Foreign Policy Daphne McCurdy, who participated in an international observation mission for Morocco’s November 25 elections, goes beyond the clichés surrounding the victory of the Islamist PJD party and describes fairly accurately the political reality in the country and the issues at hand following that crucial poll. Truly, the most well-informed and thoughtful article I read so far about the recent legislative elections.
Both the low turnout and the PJD’s success show that Moroccans want genuine change, and won’t be fooled by superficial attempts to win them over. But it is clear that such meaningful change will not come from the king. With endemic corruption, decreasing quality of health care and housing, and increasing levels of unemployment, Moroccans suffer from the same issues that ail the rest of the Arab world. While they probably don’t want to go down the path of revolution, unless political parties take more ownership of the political process and stand up to the king, disaffected Moroccans may find they have nowhere to go but the streets.
Hisham Almiraat 