For the ninth consecutive day, hundreds of young people took to the streets in cities across Morocco, as part of protests organized by “GenZ 212“, demanding an end to corruption and the resignation of government head Aziz Akhannouch. “Akhannouch leave, the government doesn’t belong to you” and “the people want an end to corruption” were among the chants heard in Casablanca, where crowds gathered in the popular El Fida neighborhood, according to live broadcasts from local media. Meanwhile, mass gatherings also took place in Tetouan (northern Morocco), where hundreds of young people chanted similar slogans. In Rabat, Morocco’s capital, the mobilization was smaller. About 100 people gathered in front of parliament, shouting slogans like “long live the people”, “the government is corrupt”, “stop corruption”.
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Morocco: What Gen Z 212 demands
It should be noted that every night since September 27, thousands of young protesters have been demanding reforms in healthcare and education sectors. The mobilizations are primarily organized by a collective called “GenZ 212”, which recently appeared on social media platforms and whose founders and leaders remain unknown so far. The group presents itself as an organization of “free youth” without a clear political affiliation, having over 185,000 members on the Discord platform. The mobilizations began in mid-September, following the death of eight pregnant women at a public hospital in Agadir (southern Morocco) who had been admitted for cesarean sections. “The priority is to have reforms in healthcare and education. We are aware that this takes time, but it has to start sometime,” said Imran, 20, to AFP on the sidelines of the demonstration in the capital. Although GenZ 212 insists on the peaceful nature of the gatherings it organizes, violent incidents erupted last Wednesday evening in small communities, resulting in 3 people losing their lives from police gunfire in a village near Agadir. The following day, the prime minister expressed his government’s willingness to satisfy the “social demands” of young people and his “readiness to engage in dialogue”.
