Democracy in Morocco will require collective effort

Morocco’s upcoming elections are becoming ever-more critical, as signs are emerging of a regression to pre-2011 political and societal conditions.

Continuing both the regional wave of ousting Islamists and the local struggle between public will and loyalty to despotism, a deep state has developed and is using different strategies to tame the ambitions of the government-leading Justice and Development Party (PJD). In addition to supporting the establishment-made Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM), the deep state’s strategies have included creating animosity between the PJD and the Interior Ministry. Yet the situation may culminate in devaluing both the 2011 protests and promises of democracy. Voter turnout could grow without serious political improvement, unless a cross-party anti-despotism bloc forms.

After failing to sow long-standing discord between the government and the monarchy, the deep state has tried to lower the PJD’s public visibility in different ways. The first is by blocking infrastructure projects underway in PJD-managed municipalities. The recurrent justification is to pre-empt early campaigning, notwithstanding the effects on people’s needs.

Second, social aid distribution has been banned. For example, during Ramadan, some elements within the Interior Ministry arranged to prohibit associations from distributing free food baskets. In another, more recent instance, the poor were deprived of sacrificial sheep that civil society customarily distributes for Eid al-Adha, Islam’s holiest holiday. The ministry says it’s trying to keep nongovernmental organizations that are close to the PJD from exploiting the charitable acts in forthcoming elections, but the selective policy led impoverished families to protest.