Abdallah Benkirane: “Algerian National Popular Army helped greatly in safeguarding the state in Algeria in the face of terrorist scourge”
In an exclusive interview with the newspaper Echorouk, the secretary general of the justice and development party (PJD) in Morocco, Abdallah Benkirane, who succeeded the former chairman of the party's national council Saad Al Othmani has largely dwelt on the current political life marked by recurrent logjams in Morocco as well as on the tempestuous relations between Morocco and Algeria mostly on account of the vexed western Sahara issue and the pending issue of the closed borders between the two Maghrebian countries.
- Echorouk : How do you assess the contribution of the PJD party as an Islamist party in Morocco’s political life?
- Benkirane : The PJD party is a Moroccan opposition Islamist party which possesses 46 deputies in Parliament.
- We form 14 per cent of the whole make-up of the Moroccan legislative institution and we believe that an opposition party which doesn’t play its role as an opposition force is not to be reckoned with: The PJD is assuming its role as a bona-fide opposition party under all circumstances and has been contributing to bringing out change in the Moroccan political arena despite the manifold constraints.
- Echorouk : Does this opposition you are talking about really represent a potent force on the way to salutary reforms in Morocco?
- Benkirane : Despite the countless constraints on the way to genuine reforms, the PJD party is still striving to alter things for the better on the Moroccan political scene by pushing for deep reforms notably by stamping out the widespread scourges of corruption and political manipulation.
- I should say that the stability of Morocco is due to the existence of a kingdom authority for several centuries and if for instance Morocco had witnessed the same bloody events as Algeria in the nineties, Morocco would have tumbled down altogether.
- I am confident that the Algerian state has been safeguarded thanks to the eminent and potent role played by the Algerian national popular Army in the face of the terrorist scourge in Algeria in the recent past.
- Echorouk : How does your PJD party manage to make its voice heard on the Moroccan political scene in spite of the manifold hurdles and the most prevalent political manipulation, as you put it?
- Benkirane : Yes, it’s true this political manipulation is being fostered by a powerful lobby made up of certain toadying parties led by the PAM party which is very close to the Royal palace.
- To understand the gap between image and reality in Morocco we must analyse the change that the country has experienced in these last two decades.
- The current generation of young adults has grown up on broken promises, false hopes, unrealistic expectations, cultural uncertainty and political manipulation. Corruption and elite privileges prevail at the highest levels of political authority, setting a standard for those below.
- Despite evidence of democratisation and political alternance (the government refers to itself as a government of “consensual alternation”), the Moroccan ruling class promulgates a culture of cynicism, contempt and corruption.
- This influences the attitudes and political behaviour of people for whom education is just a means to advance their own interests and increase their status and privileges. Those who do not have the secondary and university education needed to succeed in a competitive global marketplace have few choices.
- Echorouk : What is your reaction to the hostile campaign launched of late by the written Moroccan press against Algeria over makeshift terrorism charges …?
- Benkirane : Well, I think that this hostile Moroccan campaign is mainly due to Algeria’s steadfast stand on the vexed Western Sahara issue.
- Algeria is still calling for the holding of a self-determination referendum in Western Sahara to test the will of the Sahraoui people and extends support for the Polisario Front.
- On the other hand, the Royal palace is intent on imposing its alternative option consisting in the autonomy status for Western Sahara in order to ward off the self-determination option in line with UN resolutions.
- The terrorism charges brought against Algeria are totally unfounded. But I think that this unresolved issue should not have a negative and nefarious impact on the relations of brotherhood and friendship between the two neighbouring countries. I should also stress that the lingering closure of the Moroccan-Algerian border is an impedement to better and more profit-yielding relations between the two countries.