20110627
xinhua
RABAT, June 26 (Xinhua) -- About 1 million Moroccans took to the streets across the country on Sunday to support the constitutional changes proposed by King Muhammed VI, local media reported.

They held massive marches in some 70 cities, including the country's biggest city Casablanca, waving the national flag, chanting slogans in support of the king and his draft amendment to the constitution, which will be put to a referendum on July 1.

The 47-year-old king made a speech on Doha-based Al-Jazeera TV on June 17, announcing that according to the new draft constitution, he will relinquish some key powers to strengthen the powers of the prime minister and the parliament.

The draft constitution stipulates that the prime minister, who has hitherto been appointed by the king, will come from the party that wins most seats in parliamentary elections.

As the "head of government," the prime minister will have the power to dissolve the parliament and appoint ministers and officials of administrative and public departments. The power has been owned by the king.

However, the king will remain as the head of state, the supreme commander of the armed forces and country's religious leader, according to the draft constitution.

Thousands of activists, mainly from the February 20 Movement, also marched on Sunday, calling for boycotting the referendum and urging the king to deepen democratic reforms, give up his absolute power and turn Morocco into a British-style parliamentary monarchy.

Inspired by the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, more than 30,000 Moroccan protesters took to the streets on Feb. 20 to demand political reforms. On March 9, King Muhammed VI announced the establishment of a commission to draft a new constitution, which was presented to the king early this month and won approval from the government.

During the past three months, the February 20 Movement organized many protests to press for greater political reforms.