Today one party, tomorrow another: in Rabat, campaign workers are paid up to 200 dirhams per procession
He marches in the colors of a party whose name he does not know. Another is ready to switch sides the very next day. In Rabat, paid participants enliven election processions, fill rallies and hand out leaflets. For one of them, a procession brings in between 150 and 200 dirhams.
In Rabat’s medina, around fifty people wearing blue caps and vests walk behind a marching band. They wear the colors of the National Rally of Independents (RNI) and hold up a sign featuring its candidates. None of these candidates takes part in the procession.
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Mohammed, tasked with filming the scene with his phone, knows neither the people on the sign nor the name of the party he represents. Questioned by Le Monde, another participant replies that he supports “the medina’s party.”
Today one party, tomorrow another
In Diour Jamaa, in the capital, another young man is this time wearing the vest of the Popular Movement. Elections do not interest him: what matters to him, he explains, is the 150 to 200 dirhams he receives for a procession, or around 13 to 18 euros. If another party approaches him the next day, he is ready to change his vest.
A video widely circulated on social media even shows a man taking part in four processions on the same day, for four different parties. Behind the party-colored processions, the political allegiance of those marching is therefore far from assured.
The contrast is all the more striking because the vote this Wednesday, 23 September, is struggling to mobilize voters. According to figures from the Interior Ministry reported by Le Monde, 15.8 million Moroccans are registered on the electoral rolls, out of approximately 26 million potential voters.
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The parties promise salary increases, social assistance and jobs. In the streets of Rabat, some have already found a way to earn a few dirhams through the campaign: put on a vest, walk behind a marching band and, if necessary, do it again for another party.
