Moroccan Party Pushes to Rename Streets, Remove French Colonial Legacy

In a context of tensions between France and Morocco, the Istiqlal parliamentary group is calling for "the removal of names with a French colonial connotation given to boulevards, streets, squares and arteries in several Moroccan cities" and their replacement with the names of Moroccan figures of the Resistance, culture, politics and the arts, reports the daily Al Akhbar.

"The Resident General of France in Morocco in Casablanca, Marshal Lyautey, had led the operation to transform the economic capital of Morocco, impressing French civilization, culture and symbols on it" and "had named boulevards, streets and squares with French names," recall the party deputies in a written question addressed to the Minister of the Interior.

Istiqlal proposes "changing the names of boulevards and streets, erasing the French imprint, engraved in the arteries of the economic capital of the country" and drawing from Moroccan history to rename these boulevards, streets, squares and arteries in order to "consolidate the values of patriotism, preserve the national memory, pay tribute to Moroccan symbols and recall historical events".