The “Arab Spring” reached Morocco in the form of the 20 February
2011 protests. The demonstrations, now called M20, occurred in 53
towns and were the largest in Morocco’s history. Unfortunately for the
chances of an advance toward democratization, writes leading analyst
Ahmed Benchemsi (the now-exiled former editor of the major Moroccan
weekly TelQuel), “Feb[ruary] 20 never was an extension of established
political parties or civil society organizations. On the contrary:
Its leaders always insisted on their independence vis-`a-vis established
political groups