King Mohammed VI set to speak as Gen Z protesters demand reforms in Morocco

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RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco's elusive King Mohammed VI inaugurates parliament Friday in a speech with far higher stakes than in recent years, as anti-government protests sweep the nation's cities, questioning the government's spending priorities.

He’s the country’s highest authority, but Mohammed VI rarely addresses the public and often leaves it to ministers or members of the royal family to represent Morocco internationally. Decades ago dubbed Morocco’s “King of the Poor,” he now faces a public expressing disillusionment with slow progress and widening economic divides.

Since Sept. 27, protesters have filled the streets of more than a dozen Moroccan cities, denouncing the billions being poured into preparations for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Angered by underfunded schools and hospitals, the “Gen Z 212” movement has drawn a direct line between new stadiums and neglected public services, mobilizing a nationwide movement unlike any seen since the Arab Spring in 2011. Named for Morocco’s +212 dialing code, the group has organized on platforms like TikTok and Discord, mirroring similar youth-led protests in Nepal.

“The people want the king to intervene,” protesters have chanted.

Mohammed VI’s address is expected to revisit themes he has touched on both during past moments of turmoil and in an address earlier this year, when he said he wouldn’t accept a “two-speed country” full of inequality.

“Regardless of the infrastructure built, and the level of economic development achieved, I would be satisfied only if our accomplishments contribute, in a tangible manner, to improving the living conditions of citizens from all social classes, and in all areas and regions,” he said in a July speech in Tetouan, the coastal town where he spends much of the summer.

The speech will come more than a week after protesters sent a letter of demands sent directly to the palace, thrusting the king into the spotlight and upending the careful distance he usually maintains from public debate. It called for the dismissal of Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch and his government, the release of political detainees, and the creation of a forum to hold corrupt politicians accountable.

“We, the youth of Morocco, are requesting your majesty to intervene for a profound and just reform that restores rights and punishes the corrupt,” the group wrote in the letter.

The letter underscored both an apparent faith in the 62-year-old king’s ability to fix problems and a reality that criticizing him remains illegal and taboo.

By appealing directly to him, the protesters showed deference but broke with the established tradition of keeping the king above politics — a step that raises questions about who will bear responsibility if their demands go unmet.

“People are saying 'Long live the king,' but also showing they know he’s responsible and power lies in his hands,” said Abdeslam Maghraoui, a political scientist at Duke University.

A letter from a group of 60 older intellectuals, dissidents and activists supportive of the youth-led demonstrators went further. Departing from Gen Z 212’s demands, it said tensions could ease only by addressing “the deep and structural causes of the anger shaking our country,” not merely by dismissing the prime minister, who it noted holds only symbolic authority and isn’t “the true source of executive power in Morocco.”

At Gen Z 212 protests on Thursday evening, many said they were eagerly anticipating Mohammed VI’s address, hoping he will fulfill their demands and assuage the anger they feel toward politicians like Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch. They’ve called for his resignation.

“We hope that it will mark a good omen for us, the Moroccan youth, and for all the Moroccans," Soufiane, an 18-year-old college student told The Associated Press at a protest in Casablanca.

__ Akram Oubachir contributed reporting from Casablanca, Morocco.