Moroccan Democracy advancing - Abdelilah Benkirane
Morocco's Islamist premier Abdelilah Benkirane insisted on Tuesday that democracy in his country was advancing slowly but surely, in an interview with France 24 television channel.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Moroccan-Democr...
"We are in the process of taking small... but decisive steps," Benkirane told the French television channel on the sidelines of the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg.The Arab Spring "set the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt on fire, and ours was scalded. It was because of that that we had a new constitution, that we had elections and that a party once harassed and marginalised" was voted to power, he said,AFP reported.
The prime minister rejected the suggestion that there was any conflict between his party and the palace."In Morocco, the King is the head of state and ... the head of the council of ministers, in which I am the head of the government. He is therefore my boss," Benkirane said, while stressing that he had his own "prerogatives."
"It is a system regulated by the law," he said. He denounced Western critics who, he said, judged the intentions of the Islamists who had risen to power in north Africa since the Arab Spring."Even when we don't do anything wrong, those of us who are called Islamists are judged for our intentions... But in any case, the people don't listen to that... They vote for us."
If the West "wants democracy and if it respects the voice of the people... then it must respect their choice," Benkirane added.
In an earlier speech at the opening Global Forum for Democracy Prime Minister Benkirane observed that "the fruits of development always benefit the elite," and he warned of the risk of a conflict between rish and poor in the southern mediterranean saying "Your people are much stronger, and the other a little. But our people are strong, with almost more than yours, but those who have nothing, they have nothing. When there is no balance, it will explode. "
He also called for European investors to behave like "honorable partners" an avoid social conflict in Moroccan
companies in which they have invested.
The prime minister rejected the suggestion that there was any conflict between his party and the palace."In Morocco, the King is the head of state and ... the head of the council of ministers, in which I am the head of the government. He is therefore my boss," Benkirane said, while stressing that he had his own "prerogatives."
"It is a system regulated by the law," he said. He denounced Western critics who, he said, judged the intentions of the Islamists who had risen to power in north Africa since the Arab Spring."Even when we don't do anything wrong, those of us who are called Islamists are judged for our intentions... But in any case, the people don't listen to that... They vote for us."
If the West "wants democracy and if it respects the voice of the people... then it must respect their choice," Benkirane added.
In an earlier speech at the opening Global Forum for Democracy Prime Minister Benkirane observed that "the fruits of development always benefit the elite," and he warned of the risk of a conflict between rish and poor in the southern mediterranean saying "Your people are much stronger, and the other a little. But our people are strong, with almost more than yours, but those who have nothing, they have nothing. When there is no balance, it will explode. "
He also called for European investors to behave like "honorable partners" an avoid social conflict in Moroccan
companies in which they have invested.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Moroccan-Democr...