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MOROCCO-ROYAL-POLITICS
Morocco king urges ‘urgent action’ on social problems
RABAT, July 30, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Morocco’s King Mohammed VI Sunday urged
the government to take “urgent action” to address social issues, in
particular health and education in the north African country which has been
hit by protests over employment and corruption.
Despite the “achievements accomplished (…) I have the feeling that we
continue to be lacking something in social matters,” the king said in a
speech marking the 19th anniversary of his accession to the throne.
Mohammed VI pointed to social support and social protection programmes that
“overlap each other, suffer from a lack of consistency and fail to
effectively target eligible groups”.
Morocco is marked by glaring social and territorial inequalities, against a
backdrop of high unemployment among young people. In 2017, it was ranked
123rd out of 188 countries on the Human Development Index.
In his speech, the king called for accelerating the establishment of a
national system to register families for social support programmes and
invited the government to “undertake a comprehensive and deep restructuring”
of existing programmes.
He also called for “a strong boost to programmes to support schooling” and
a reshaping of the health system, which “is characterised by glaring
inequalities and weak management.”
The king’s speech was delivered in the northern city of Al-Hoceima which
was the epicentre of the “Hirak” protest movement that rocked the country in
2016 and 2017.
The social unrest began in October 2016 after the death of a fisherman and
spiralled into a wave of protests demanding more development in the neglected
Rif region and railing against corruption and unemployment.
Over the past week Moroccan media have said they expect a royal pardon for
dozens of demonstrators and activists who were sentenced in late June to up
to 20 years in prison.
The 54-year-old monarch made no reference to the protests in his speech.
Afterwards, an official statement said 1,200 pardons were granted, without
specifying if the jailed demonstrators were among them. Moroccan media said
none of the “Hirak” protestors was pardoned.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1102 hrs