al-Arabiya: Young activists campaigning for greater democracy in Morocco are using the social network Facebook to call for new demonstrations “for dignity and large scale political reforms” on March 20.
“We have chosen this date to demonstrate peacefully, for dignity and to demand deep political reforms,” Oussama El Khlifi, one of those behind the “February 20 movement”, told AFP.
Demonstrations took place in several Moroccan cities on February 20 in answer to a call by young people via Facebook to demand “urgent” political reforms and limits to the king’s powers.
“Several associations, political parties and trade unions are backing our movement, which is peaceful and in particular is claiming the promulgation of a new constitution,” Oussama El Khlifi said.
The February 20 movement claims on its Facebook page to have 30,000 followers and gained recent backing from one of the major parties in the government coalition, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP).
After the February 20 demonstrations, the first in Morocco since the tide of unrest swept through the Arab world, the authorities said they had “got the message.
The following day King Mohammed VI said he wanted to “strengthen (the Moroccan model) by new reforms.”
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