Rabat – After long period of disappearance, former Head of Government Abdelilah Benkirane has broken his silence, saying that the Justice and Development Party (PJD) will continue to combat “tyranny and corruption” despite recent losses.
“We will stay together until the end,” said the PJD leader Thursday in Rabat while paying respects to the tomb of his late colleague in the Democratic Popular Constitutional Movement Abdelkrim al-Khatib.
“We can be patient of the absence of infrastructure, hospitals, roads and universities, but we cannot be patient of [the absence] of dignity that we should not surrender to gain it.”
Benkirane went on to say that “what’s important for the Moroccan citizen is having the sense of dignity in their country and feeling that the country serves them and honored to serve,” adding that “we cannot achieve anything without regaining the dignity of the citizen and obliteration of corruption and tyranny.”
“The things [that] are not negotiable are Islam, Monarchy and territorial integrity,” he said, stressing that the PJD came to “serve Islam and Monarchy and preserve it.”
Benkirane, who was the Head of Government over the five past years, added that the PJD “has lost the battle, but did not lose it forever,” underlying that it will continue to fight corruption and tyranny.
The PJD won the legislative elections on October 7th securing 125 seats in the parliament. However, after six months of post-election deadlock, King Mohammed VI decided to dismiss Benkirane and replace him with PJD colleague Saad Eddine Othmani in March.
