Maâti Monjib is a political analyst, human rights activist, and historian at the University of Mohammed V-Rabat. He is also coordinator of Morocco’s branch of the Middle East Citizens’ Assembly (MECA), founder and director of the Ibn Rochd Center for Studies and Communication in Rabat, and a founding member of the 20 February Movement Support Council, which sought reform in Morocco during the Arab Spring. He has taught in Morocco, Senegal, and the United States. In addition, he initiated and facilitated debates between Islamists and secular activists in Morocco between 2007 and 2010 and organized the “Press Now Investigative Journalism Prize” in Morocco for 2007-2009. Dr. Monjib is a former Fulbright scholar-in-residence (2005-2006) and former Patkin Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center for Middle East Policy (2009). His works include: The Moroccan Monarchy and the Struggle for Power (Paris: L’Harmattan, 1992), A Political Biography of Mehdi Ben Barka, with Z. Daoud (Paris: Editions Michalon, 1996-2000), and Islamists Versus Secularists in Morocco, ed. (Amsterdam: IKV, 2009). He is currently preparing a Political biography of the West African leader Mamadou Dia. Dr. Monjib holds two PhDs, his first from France in North African politics and his second from Senegal on African political history. He speaks French, Arabic, and English.
The new government in Morocco is facing its first crisis with its citizens, as loud demonstrations erupted denouncing the compulsory vaccination passport, the lack of job opportunities, and the deteriorating living conditions.
Maâti Monjib is a Moroccan historian, political analyst, and human rights activist. Monjib, president and co-founder of Freedom Now, has faced an array of political charges since 2015 and been subject to digital surveillance by the state. Today, he faces new finance-related accusations, which he denies.
By fueling a media war between Islamists and leftists, the Moroccan regime can isolate individual critics and prevent these forces from forming an anti-palace coalition.
The Moroccan authorities are unsuccessfully using their influence over religious discourse and the media to try to turn the public against protesters in the Rif.
The conflict over Morocco’s cabinet formation is a struggle for power between the PJD and the palace.
Despite the palace’s support for its main rival, the PJD was able to achieve record gains in Morocco’s parliament.
The Arab Spring–driven 2011 constitutional reforms may be changing Morocco’s political system more than anticipated. Namely, it has allowed Morocco’s governing Islamist party to increase the palace’s political accountability.
With the exception of the Islamists, Morocco’s political parties have failed to take advantage of the post-2011 openings in political space.
"Fifteen years of Mohammed VI’s rule has proven that there is no political will to liberalize the public media or guarantee independent journalism."
The arrest of anti-monarchy opposition journalist Ali Anouzla under the Moroccan Anti-Terrorism Law signals renewed suppression of freedoms of expression and the press.
