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Friday, July 01, 2011

Can the Arab Spring Be Achieved Peacefully?

Let's hope this works:

Moroccans voted on Friday in a referendum on a revised constitution offered by King Mohammed to placate "Arab Spring" street protesters and the "yes" camp was tipped to win despite boycott calls by opponents.

The new charter explicitly grants the government executive powers, but retains the king at the helm of the army, religious authorities and the judiciary and still allows him to dissolve parliament, though not unilaterally as is the case now.

That falls far short of the demands of the "February 20" protest movement, which wants a parliamentary monarchy where the king's powers would be kept in check by elected lawmakers.

Give credit to the king for trying rather than digging in the presidential guard around the palace and shooting the people into submission.