For the tribune, Abdelilah Benkirane, after an absence of five years, patching things up with popular meetings and particularly on this Labor Day was a duty and an opportunity not to be missed to restore a badly tarnished image for him and his party.
Also on this 1st of May, at the demonstration in the circumstances organized this Sunday by the regional secretariat of Rabat of the National Union of Labor in Morocco (UNMT) union rallied to the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), the occasion for our national Benky was most auspicious. As a good lecturer and a good demagogue, he delivered a speech in front of a gallery of the working class supporters of the Islamist party, very little stocked for the occasion and moreover.
As you can imagine, everyone except the PJD and the UNMT took it on their own. Abdelilah Benkirane, a regular at the May Day demonstrations of the UNTM, during his tenure as Head of Government did not fail in his sarcastic nature to shoot red balls at his political opponents while covering his own people with praise. He attacked the trade union centers that signed the social agreement of Saturday April 30, 2022, ” the agreement signed by the unions yesterday is not up to what they were offered in 2016 ” when he was Head of Government, adding that the unions had become a tool in the hands of the big ” bosses“.
In his usual style, the General Secretary of the PJD quipped about the decision of some unions not to celebrate May Day, saying that it coincided with the last day of the month of Ramadan. He questioned himself in a twist that he is the only one who dares: ” Why should we celebrate the eve of Eid al-Fitr or even the day of Eid al-Fitr? “, pointing out sardonically “ It seems that they decided to fast only 28 days “. Benkirane warned the members of the signatory unions of the social agreement so that they pay attention to what their leaders are doing who cooperate with the Employers with the sole aim of bringing down the PJD, calling on them to wake up. Benkirane, remembering his good memories, did Benky and violently attacked the head of government and the system he presides over. today we all know that this government arrived with money, with the help of the authorities with lies and treachery “.
Benkirane, in a semblance of a so-called mea-culpa, also questioned the result obtained by his party in the last elections, saying that 13 seats did not reflect the reality of the facts although acknowledging that, “We made mistakes, we recognize it, we assume it”. He said PJD members were harassed after the elections in various departments, and anyone leaning towards the Islamist party was stripped of their responsibilities.
Benkirane’s speech was not without sending messages to Israel and Algeria. Benkirane said Moroccans were historically associated with Al-Aqsa Mosque and used to visit it on their way to perform pilgrimage, and the Moroccan Quarter, which was demolished by Israel, testifies to the Moroccans’ relationship with Jerusalem. And he sent a message to the leaders of the regime in Algiers, reminding the ” Algerian brothers that Morocco wishes you no harm in Algeria and that the Kingdom will not abandon its Sahara “. He concluded his speech by calling on the supporters of the UNMT and the PJD to continue the struggle and not back down, saying: “We are Moroccans and ‘Mmfakinch’.
The presence of the PJD leader alongside the UNMT at his meeting served as a test of Benkirane’s return to the political scene. It would seem not. His exit did not energize as desired neither the supporters of his political formation nor that of the union which is affiliated to him. It will be difficult for Benky and his people to recover from the electoral debacle of the end of last summer. A lot of effort and time is expected to clear this.
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