It's been announced today that Abbas al-Fassi, the leader of the Istiqlal party (made up of a bunch of rich and influential businessmen and landowners, close to the palace, who describe themselves as conservatives and 'nationalists,' and who came first in last september 7th legislative elections) has been chosen by the King of Morocco to lead the next government.Al-Fassi and his party are the archetype opportunistic, bootlicking politicians, with no ideological basis whatsoever, apart from the constant obsession they have for power and privilege.
Al-fassi has been a member of the outgoing government where he held a non-portfolio ministerial office. Doing what? who knows? Oh... I beg your pardon, he did achieve something when serving as minister of labor in a previous cabinet (2000-2002): His ministry was involved in a monstrous crooked deal, also known as "the An'najat affair," when tens of thousands of young poor Moroccan job seekers paid substantial amounts of money (as premium) to a fake company based in the Emirates, which promised to enroll a big number of candidates, many of whom spent their life savings to pay for the job offer. A convention has been signed at the time, with the Emirati company An'najat by the very official ANAPEC (the Moroccan job agency) under the patronage and advocacy of the then ministry of labor, ignoring warnings by many international organizations like the ITF (the International Transport Federation). At first sight, there was no reason for anybody to doubt of the competence of either Al-Fassi or the government. The whole affair was, of course, trumpeted up by al-Fassi and presented as a big personal achievement, which he used as an electoral argument during the legislative campaign of 2002.
A couple of mounts after the elections, the first cruel signs of the fraud appeared; then the 30,000 applicants were bluntly informed of the trickery and told that their dreams were definitely dashed.
So: either al-Fassi has been cheated upon and double-crossed by an impeccably executed swindle, or he knowingly participated in the con. In either accounts he disqualified as a man worth of respect, let alone trust. Has he been held to account for his crime? Nop! Because in Morocco, you only have to be a sycophant and a servile attendant of the Makhzen to escape justice and have access to power and privilege.
Today's dispatch of the MAP (the Moroccan official press agency) explained that "King Mohamed VI praised Mr. al-Fassi for his 'patriotism' and for his 'commitment to the sacred values,' describing him as a 'statesman with great experience.'"
Don't know whether to laugh or cry?
Today's dispatch of the MAP (the Moroccan official press agency) explained that "King Mohamed VI praised Mr. al-Fassi for his 'patriotism' and for his 'commitment to the sacred values,' describing him as a 'statesman with great experience.'"
Don't know whether to laugh or cry?
(picture credit: "Rightee")