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Morocco World News with Maghreb Intelligence
Rabat, August 19, 2012
Last Saturday, under a suffocating heat, Abdelilah Benkirane, the head of the Moroccan government, held a meeting with the executives of the PJD at the party’s headquarters. It was the first time that the facetious Moroccan head of government was to meet the members of his party after his public apology presented to the king and his advisers.
Benkirane looked gloomy. During his speech, he was much less to his advantage, losing his train of thought for more than once. While waiting for assistance on the subject of “apology”, the head of PJD chose to evade the issue emphasizing on the Islamic referential of his party. But what has happened that made Abdelilah Benkirane suddenly lose his legendary enthusiasm?
According to well informed sources in Rabat, the head of government has committed blunders towards the monarchy in his last media appearances. According to the same sources, the king had given very firm instructions to his advisers not to embarrass the government or interfere in public affairs. The palace had chosen to stay back, leaving a room of maneuver to Abdelilah Benkirane. “The Moroccan sovereign wanted to let the government make its decisions. But several ministers eventually exasperate the public opinion by creating a state of panic among investors, “says a European diplomat accredited in Rabat.
”Benkirane and his team made two huge mistakes. The first relates to the statements made by some members of the government on an alleged large-scale corruption that prevails in the mechanics of the state. The second concerns the rhetoric of Benkirane. The latter does not hesitate, in each of his media appearances, to speak of the king and his advisers referring to the smallest details,” says a former government minister.
According to one of our sources, talking incessantly of corruption and squandering, even without evidence, is a blow to the morale of the administration and investors, giving the impression that, before Benkirane, Morocco was a jungle without rules nor laws.
On the other hand, the palace likes to be the master of its own communication. The monarchy in Morocco, as in other countries, follows century-old rules that define its code of communication. “By Speaking haphazardly about the monarchy, Benkirane has overstepped his authority and showed a blatant lack of tact,” says a former minister of communications.
According to observers, this is what has pushed the king to put a little more present recently in order to send reassuring messages to everyone and “erase the negative effects of Benkirane’s communication blunders”. It seems that the head of the government took heed of this warning.
