Rabat – Rachid Talbi Alami, the Speaker of Morocco’s House of Representatives, has stirred controversy for making insulting comments while talking about the people supporting the social campaign demanding the resignation of Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch.
Alami, a leading member of Akhannouch’s Rally of Independents’ Party (RNI), made his controversial remarks during a regional congress of the party last week on July 22.
Moroccan people have put their trust in the RNI because of its way of working and its program, Alami argued, adding: “This influence and its role have no impact… Should we show some solidarity with these sick people who are leading this campaign? Praying God to heal them,” Alami said.
فعلا الله يشافينا منكم يا الڤيروسات الفتّاكة ?
ها علاش #7dh_Gazoil #8dh_Essence #Dégage_Akhannouch pic.twitter.com/JdcQzU9z1T— راملو”نسخة أصلية”⚓ 尺ﾑMしѺ (@Ramlo_Nassimo) July 25, 2022
Describing the campaign supporters’ as obstructionists, Alami also questioned their identity and accused them of “hiding behind fake accounts on social networks to sabotage the government’s efforts with their lies.”
The remarks came amid a flaring anti-government campaign demanding social change as Moroccan households suffer the repercussions of skyrocketing prices.
Fuel prices have been a source of concern for all Moroccans, and hundreds of thousands of frustrated netizens have taken to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to urge the Akhannouch-led government to resign or lower the price of basic goods.
The campaigners have been using hashtags such as “#Degage_Akhannouch” (Akhannouch out), and the anti-government hashtags have been widely circulated on various social media platforms, especially Facebook and Twitter, over the past few days.
Protesters’ main source of grievance is the prohibitively high prices of gasoline and diesel, and many “Akhannouch out” campaigners have been calling for fuel prices to be lowered at MAD 7 and MAD 8, instead of the MAD 15 MAD 16 currently charged per liter of gasoline and diesel.
While some observers have cast doubt on the depth and authenticity of the grievances being aired by the anti-government campaign on social media, others have said that the government would do better to take notice and meet some of the demands of “Degage Akhannouch” campaigners.
Lowering the prices of gasoline and diesel to MAD 7 and 8 is unrealistic at this point given the global context, Moroccan economist Mohammed Jadri recently told Morocco World News. He added, however, that the government should more effectively communicate the reasons for the price hikes and commit to at least lower gasoline and diesel prices to MAD 10 and 11.
