Interviewer: Lyna Ouandjeli, Researcher and Head of Collaborative Projects at EISMENA
Guest: Jamil Sayah, Sciences PO Grenoble
Morocco’s youth-led protests reveal a deeper crisis beneath the country’s image of stability and modernization. In this interview, we discuss how young Moroccans are challenging political stagnation, demanding access to healthcare and public services, and using social media to coordinate a movement without formal leadership. The conversation explores the monarchy’s strategy since 2011, the limits of infrastructure-led modernization, the role of repression, and why this new generation may represent a turning point in Morocco’s political future.
Chapters:
00:00 — Morocco’s youth protests and demands for reform
00:34 — Healthcare, public services, and the AFCON backdrop
00:53 — Key questions: repression, social media, and socio-economic anger
01:20 — Why the protest movement is not over
01:48 — Morocco since 2011: democratization or political cosmetics?
02:45 — How the monarchy governs without taking responsibility
03:59 — Big projects vs. daily social reality
04:33 — Repression, waiting tactics, and the risk of a second wave
05:21 — A generational movement and the possibility of real change
05:35 — Mohammed VI, succession questions, and internal instability
06:29 — Image, international showcase, and political reality
07:14 — The shrinking middle class and the weakening of social balance
07:33 — Closing remarks and next parts of the interview