Young Moroccans took to the streets on Sunday in cities across the kingdom for the ninth consecutive night of protests calling for an end to corruption and a change of government.
Organised online by the GenZ 212 collective, whose founders have remained anonymous, the rallies have swept the usually stable North African country since September 27.
Protesters have demanded reforms to social services, especially health and education, and voiced anger over social inequality.
In Casablanca, crowds gathered in the working-class El Fida district, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, according to live broadcasts from Moroccan media.
Similar slogans were chanted in the northern city of Tetouan, where hundreds of protesters gathered, the broadcasts showed.
In the capital, Rabat, around a hundred demonstrators rallied in front of the country’s parliament, shouting “The government is corrupt.”
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“Reforms to the health and education sectors are essential. We’re aware that will take time, but we have to start somewhere,” said Imran, 20, speaking to AFP on the fringes of the protest.
GenZ 212, which has more than 180,000 members on Discord, insists on the non-violent nature of its protests, which have been largely peaceful so far.
There were, however, reports of violence in several smaller towns following Wednesday’s demonstrations.
Three people were killed by gendarmes that night in what authorities described as “legitimate defence” after the group allegedly tried to storm a station in the village of Lqliaa, near Agadir.
The rallies follow on from isolated protests that broke out in mid-September in several cities after reports that eight pregnant women had died at Agadir’s public hospital after being admitted for caesarean sections.
Demonstrators have seized on the deaths as evidence of the public health sector’s failings, fuelling wider discontent over social inequality.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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