In his first political appearance after renewing confidence in it as Secretary -General of the Justice and Development Party, Abdel -Ilah Benkirane chose the occasion of Labor Day to launch a noisy speech from the party’s union arm, carrying multi -directional messages, ranging from accusation and criticism, and warning and calling for review.
But behind this sharp discourse, a deeper bet is highlighted: How can Benkirane lead fierce opposition without colliding with the principles of the state? How can it reshape the features of the defeated party in an electoral political and social scene?
Returning to the scene this time seems more complicated, in light of the decline in confidence in political actors, the escalation of critical sense in the street, the intensification of the debate on the issues of normalization, identity, and social justice.
Here, the usual Benkirane equation is highlighted: the rift in the right to confront power, with an unconditional loyalty to the royal institution, as it is in his view as a guarantor of unity and stability.
Firewishes and a committed political context
In his first political exit after his re -election as Secretary -General of the Justice and Development Party at its ninth national conference, Abdel -Ilah Benkirane chose the occasion of Fatih May, on the platform of the National Labor Union in Morocco (the union arm of the party), to launch a fiery speech that carried sharp messages in multiple directions: unions, government, state, defenders of normalization, media, and even some previous symbols in the union scene.
A rise on the ruins of defeat
Benkirane’s return to the General Secretariat came after the electoral earthquake that brought the party from the summit to the bottom in the 2021 elections. This appearance, then, was not normal, but rather an expression of the resumption of the battle to rebuild a wounded party, and the marketing of leadership based on an explicit populist discourse, which is not afraid of collision or radical positions, especially in light of what Benkirane sees as a “political and moral response” that the country knows.
Heavy accusations … money for silence
Benkirane attacked the Moroccan unions without equivalent, and he mentioned in particular the Moroccan Labor Union and its Miloudi President Mujarik, accusing them of “trafficking in workers” and taking money from the state in exchange for silence on social injustice, considering that these unions “frighten workers from expulsion” and contribute to “digesting rights”.
In exchange for this attack, Benkirane glorified the union of his party and considered it the honest exception, calling on the worker to join it and not to fear, saying that “the state does not interfere, and if it interferes, we will stand in its face.”
State messages .. No holiness over criticism
In a rare expression of a Moroccan political leader, Benkirane addressed the state, saying: “Walk is God!” In the context of his call to reject injustice and normalization with fear. This statement reflects an upward tendency to break the ceiling of the “conservative official speech”, recalling the literature of before the prime minister, as his Saddam’s speech had a great tired occurrence in the ranks of his supporters.
The issue of Palestine and normalization … the axis of discourse and feelings
Benkirane has allocated a large part of his speech to the Palestinian cause, accusing those who defend Israel in Morocco of “doing this for the sake of money”, considering that “the Zionist state is free of humanity”, and that normalization funds “are not different from prostitution funds.”
He went further when he pointed out that the Moroccans are ready to go to fight in Palestine if the door was opened for that, in a speech that raises feelings of identity and historical and religious affiliation, and re -reminds Moroccans of their previous unanimity on the Palestinian issue, in exchange for the escalation of the “Taza before Gaza” speech.
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-An angry social speech
Benkirane did not lose sight of the arrows to Prime Minister Aziz Akhenouch, sarcastically from slaughtering 60 sheep in the Aurai region, while millions of Moroccans were unable to buy the sacrifice.
He also accused the government of submitting only to the logic of strikes and noise, and ignoring workers in exchange for responding to the demands of the employees, in a blatant discrimination between the working categories. He called for raising the wages of cleaners and simple workers, in a message that touches the marginalized classes and returns to justice and development as part of his social speech that he lost in the government.
The Amazigh file .. a proactive attempt to control the balance
In a sensitive moment in which some Amazigh areas knew an escalation of identity expression, Benkirane sent a dual message: an implicit confession of problems that need the solution, in exchange for a severe warning of adventures similar to “Kurdistan”, saying that this “will not lead to anything.”
This position falls within the party’s attempt to restore its location as a national mediator between identities, away from extremist polarization.
Summoning Andalusia and warning of internal fragmentation
Benkirane ended his speech by summoning the experience of Andalusia, when the Emirates dispersed and fell one by one, as a symbolic message that confirms that the national project is threatened if Morocco abandoned its major priorities, foremost of which is the Palestinian issue.
Benkirane returns, but the country is not as it left
Abdel -Ilah Benkirane returns to the partisan and union scene, which is carried on a populist balance that was not fully consumed, but today Morocco is not a pre -2011 Morocco, and fiery speeches may be filled, but it does not build alone an effective political scene. The challenge in front of him is the balance between fierce opposition and building convincing alternatives, in light of a changing political arena and a more aware and conscious society in intent.
This is what Benkirane himself expressed during the ninth national conference of the party, when he clearly stressed that it distinguishes between the due respect of the state and the necessary criticism for the benefit of the country, in an indication that his next battle will not be against the state, but from within the logic of national reform, while preserving the voice of exhibitions who are not afraid of the rift with the right.
In the background of this context, the exceptional nature of the Moroccan model in interaction with the expressions of the Islamic movement cannot be overlooked, whether from within the institutions or in the street, nor with the escalating popular demonstrations against normalization, which are often granted a margin of expression, its counterpart in a regional environment characterized by a comprehensive narrowing of such movements.
This Moroccan exception, despite its fragility sometimes, gives Benkirane and his party a room for maneuver, and an opportunity to restore positioning, but also a responsibility in not draining this margin.
Benkirane and the king
Despite his loud opposition tone and sharp criticism of the government, unions, and even some state institutions, Abdel -Ilah Benkirane remained keen on placing the royal establishment outside the confrontation circle. His desperate defense of the king remained constant in all his stations, and he considers that “ownership is the guarantor of the country’s unity and stability”, and he constantly repeats that his loyalty to the king does not mean silence on the imbalances, but rather falls within his own understanding of the concept of “advice for the first matter” within the framework of the Islamic reference.
This balance between political criticism and the defense of the constants, led by the Royal Foundation, is one of the secrets of the survival of Benkirane as an acceptable player within the Moroccan political field, despite his fluctuations and sharp speech. This gives him a unique margin for public opposition, without falling into a direct clash with the center of government.
