ABSTRACT
The Fes riots were not the first time that Moroccans had taken to the streets in protest. Once a year, for the past several centuries, Morocco’s notable family heads, senior civil servants and tribal representatives gather in one of the king’s palaces. The king can mobilise a range of support bases to promote his agenda, most importantly loyal political parties, business elites, civil-society groups, security services and religious institutions. Morocco’s 2011 constitution built on Mohammed VI’s earlier reforms that centred on improving women’s rights and investigated past regime abuses. By the 1990s most of Morocco’s parties largely accepted the king’s dominant role in Moroccan politics and decision-making. Morocco’s reforms have helped advance the debate on a range of issues and genuinely increased citizen participation, but they have not fundamentally altered the balance or separation of powers.
