Algerian Strict Stance Towards Le Pen’s Party, Moroccan Contradictory Position

The French historian and university professor, Pierre Vermeren, stopped at the positions of the three Maghreb countries (Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco) regarding the recent legislative elections in France and their repercussions on the region.

He compared the positions of Algeria and Tunisia with their counterparts issued by the Moroccan regime, emphasizing that there is a close relationship between the Alawite palace and the extremist French National Front party.

In a reading that appears to have a lot of truth and credibility, Vermeren, who wrote many books about Algeria and the Kingdom of Morocco, considered that Algeria is the only country among the three countries whose positions were clear and strict on the far right, and represented a call to block the road to it by all legally available means.

The author of the book “The History of Contemporary Algeria” said in a recent interview with the French magazine “L’Express”: “Algeria was the leading country in calling for a vote against the National Front party in France. There were calls from official or unofficial bodies, such as the Grand Mosque of Paris, to mobilize the French Algerians to prevent the National Front from coming to power”.

The writer said the Moroccan position has a lot of manipulation: “The tone was more controlled in Morocco because the regime there clearly sees that we cannot prejudge the future and that the long-term situation can benefit the National Front party.”

The historian and university professor justifies the Algerian position’s clarity and principle: “Algeria is the country with the largest number of dual citizens in France, as Algerian nationality is not lost and transferred through immigration. The 1968 agreement greatly facilitated the permanent residence of Algerians who came to the French territory.”

In response to a question related to the ambiguity of the Moroccan position regarding the National Front party, the author of the book “Morocco in 100 Questions: A Kingdom of Paradoxes” explained that “the National Front, throughout its history, especially its historical component, has had close relations with the Moroccan regime. There is a common hostility to Algeria and a tradition of friendship between party founders, such as Jean-Marie Le Pen.”

What is interesting is that the Moroccan people do not share the same position with the palace regarding the far right in France, which is known for its hostility to Muslims and immigrant communities, including Moroccans. Pierre Vermeren said: “However, on the other hand, Moroccan public opinion is hostile to the National Front party, because of Islam, immigration and dual nationality, which also affects Moroccans, and therefore the feelings of those in power and the media are shared.

But in Morocco, the prevailing idea is that relations with France have been so bad for ten years that they are unlikely to worsen. The government seeks above all to change the rules regarding the issue of Western Sahara and its arch-enemy, Algeria.”

Concerning the Tunisian position, he sensed it through what was written by the press of this country. The Tunisian press says Pierre Vermeren, “strongly linked these elections to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and presented the result as a defeat for the “French Zionist lobby.” Mathilde Panot (the most prominent MP in the Left Bloc and the France Unbowed party (LFI) repeatedly promised to recognize the State of Palestine before and after the French legislative elections”.

In the case of Morocco, the spokesman added, “The caution of the Moroccan press can be easily understood because the country is allied with Israel”, (the Zionist entity) “within the framework of the (Abraham Accords) normalization agreements.”

Regarding the repercussions of the victory of the far right, which did not happen, according to the specialist in Algerian-French relations, the official visit of Algerian President Tebboune, which was postponed several times and announced this fall, would have been cancelled, and the mixed commission to discuss the memory file will symbolically continue its work.