My sister, who lives in Rabat, Morocco, has been told to stay home today and later in the week, because “there are planned protests”. Does this mean Morocco will be the next Egypt? She says not to bet on it:
“As Rahma, our housekeep says, “our police here have bullets, so it won’t be like Cairo”. (she really thought that the police in Cairo didn’t have bullets and that is why the people got away with it) (this probably speaks volumes about the actual problems in Morocco that need fixing, but we won’t get into that).”
“But really, it won’t be like Cairo, or Libya, or Bahrain. There are many reasons why Morocco is different than the other places. So please, don’t worry, aint nuthin’ to be worried about. Google it, no one is worried. Not even Fox News.”
You heard it here first.
Update: BBC News has filed a report on the peaceful protests in Rabat.
Best of luck to your sister.
It looks like Libya just exploded.Report
Good for them, it couldn’t happen to a nastier autocrat.Report
From what I’ve seen, the protests in Morocco were not opposed by the government. Morocco is a constitutional monarchy and has a working government, complete with political parties and even organized labor. Mohammed VI seems like a fairly enlightened monarch: the constitution has been revised several times over the last few decades.
Curiously, the Moroccan protesters are only asking for a new constitution, further limiting the power of the king, not an overthrow of the government, as in Egypt, Yemen, etc.Report
Once you get the particulars straightened out an constitutional monarchy has a lot to reccomend it.Report
You would say that.Report
She’s told me before that it’s not so enlightened on the ground. Also, she’s sent word that the news media isn’t quite right about the protests being peaceful, although she claims there’s nothing like Egypt in sight.Report