Rabat – Hamid Chabat, the former Secretary-General of the Independence Party, has officially announced his candidacy for the communal elections, saying he will run under the banner of the Democratic Forces Front party (DFF).
With the approach of the 2021 elections, the DFF political party has issued a statement regarding the membership of the DFF political party, during which Hamid Chabat will form and lead his own electoral list.
Chabat told media outlets in a statement that this candidacy comes in response to “the dictatorship of the Secretary-General of the Istiqlal Party, who dissolved the party’s organs in the city of Fez.”
He added, “Coordination with the Democratic Forces Front has not stopped since the era of Touhami El-Khayari, the former Secretary-General of the political organization, and our joining is nothing but a continuation of the constant coordination with the democratic forces in the country.”
A press conference is set to be held later this month to present the electoral program of the party.
In his statement, Chabat was devastatingly critical of the current leadership of the Independence Party. According to Chabat, Nizar Baraka, the party’s Secretary-General couldn’t care less about the welfare of FEz and is only interested in advancing his own political career at the national level.
“Nizar Baraka has stated more than once that Fez does not interest him, in a clear indication that his goal is to reach the government and hold official positions,” Chabat said, adding: “Perhaps behind his sentiment against Fez is his friendship with the current mayor of the city, and their work in the same Ministry.”
Chabat styled himself as the selfless politician and savior that Fez needs. “We want to serve Fez, which is suffering from marginalization due to the arbitrary measure of the current council, which was not able to achieve one ounce of progress during its term, which is considered a failure by all standards, in addition to the lack of coordination with various agencies and sectors,” he pronounced.
Prior to this recent announcement, Chabat verbally attacked Baraka on multiple occasions.
During a live broadcast on his official Facebook page on August 1, the former mayor of Fez presented himself as the victim of a betrayal by Baraka and the new cadre of the Istiqlal Party, stating that he remains “the legitimate SG of Istiqlal, democratically and legally.”
He directly attacked Baraka, saying that he accepted him into the party despite his “inexperience in politics.”
The latest episode of Chabat’s theatrics occured after the Independence Party’s Secretary General denied plans to endorse his candidacy to become mayor of Fez.
Chabat’s decision to leave Istiqlal and engage in a new adventure with the DFF comes after a long trail of scandals and unjustified absence from the Moroccan political scene.
Despite his ill-reputation as a self-entitled politician with a knack for lofty promises but very little or no substance in terms of effective leadership, Chabat’s latest announcement means he is not afraid to engage in yet another political adventure with a new party.
Chabat’s political opponents will surely campaign by drawing attention to the precarity and economic stagnation that his mismanagement brought Fez. But the veteran politician, who remains a formidable presence in Fez’s political landscape, appears to count on the support of a strong base of loyal supporters with whom he said he “kept constant contact.”
