(6 Apr 2014) Thousands of workers, teachers and civil servants marched through downtown Casablanca on Sunday to protest against austerity plans put in place by the Moroccan government to control runaway spending.
During the march, police arrested several pro-democracy activists that used the rally as an occasion to denounce the all-powerful monarchy.
Criticism of the elected government in this North African kingdom is tolerated, but not the hereditary monarchy itself, which the activists claimed was corrupt.
An estimated 8,000 people heeded the call from the three main labour unions to demonstrate in the country's economic capital, as relations between the labour movement and the government worsened.
Faced with unrest in 2011 during the Arab Spring inspired protests, the previous government raised salaries and benefits, nearly bankrupting the country.
The budget deficit rose to 7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012 as subsidy spending rose to 6 (b) billion US dollars a year.
Under pressure from international lending institutions, it fell to the newly elected Islamist-led government of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane to end subsidies on gasoline and gradually reduce them on diesel.
The unions have opposed these moves, saying it hurts low income groups.
On Saturday, Benkirane told supporters the opposition parties were exploiting the union protests for their own ends.
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