Moroccans fail to honor anniversary

A few thousand people gathered Feb. 19 in Morocco’s cities to mark the one year anniversary of the kingdom’s local version of the Arab Spring uprisings. 

The low turnout was in sharp contrast to the tens of thousands that once flocked to the February 20th movement’s banner early last year. About 1,000 people turned out for a sit-in at Casablanca’s main square. In Rabat, at least 1,500 marched through the center of town chanting slogans and singing songs, the Associated Press reported. The February 20 movement lost much of its support in December when the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party, which won most parliamentary seats in November elections, broke with it. The movement wants a parliamentary monarchy similar to Spain’s. But it had been criticized for calling for a boycott of both the vote for the new constitution and the early general elections.