Following the September 7 elections, Moroccan King Mohammed VI appointed a new prime minister, Abbas el-Fassi, to replace Driss Jettou, who had served in that position since 2002. El-Fassi, who may be best known for a failed business operation involving an Emirati cruise ship (which left many hopeless young men vying for jobs and lead a few to commit suicide), is a member of the winning Istiqlal (Independence) party.
A Moro in America gives a bit of background information:
Abbas al-Fassi is more known for the infamous Annajat fictious employment contract than for any achievement in his previous governmental appointments. Few years ago, He was in charge of managing a large contract with an Emirati Cruise ship, where more than 34000 young Moroccans applied and paid more than 1000 Dirhams for medical tests and miscellaneous fees before the company vanished from the face of the earth. Several disillusioned young men committed suicide and Abbas al-Fassi refused to resign or even apologize for the failing operation. Since then, he has been constantly under the mercy of independent press criticism.
Ange Bleu (fr) broke the news, saying:
Le souverain marocain a fait son choix et ouuuiii, le nouveau 1er ministre marocain n'est autre que le fameux ABBAS ELFASSI.
Ghasbouba is perplexed by the choice:
Abbas El Fassi prime minister as part of the puzzle unfolds. what is next? His resignation for example. What does Si Larbi think now?
The two year old post referenced by Ghasbouba and originally published by Larbi (fr) is drawing new comments. This one (fr/ar) was posted today:
c'est un vrai scandale ce qui se passe nomme un feneant comme premier ministre ca ne peut se passer qu'au maroc jdoudna lwala l'ont dit madomta fi lmaghrib fala tastaghrib je voulait juste dire un truc c'est que cette nomination veut simplement dire au monde qu'au maroc il y a une democratie mais le probleme c'est qu'avant de se soucier de l'international il faudra convaincre la nation qui n'a plus confiance en rien et surtout les jeunes qui ont jeter les eponges plus personnes ne s'en foue et c'est la chose la plus grave qui peut arrive a ce pays 30% qui ont vote c'est grave lah ykoun bhad lblad ou khlass personnelement j ai du mal a imaginer les 5 annnees a venire
At least one person was happy about the appointment, however. Ibn Kafka (fr) explains his reasoning in his blog:
Here is a news that I must be the only Moroccan – apart from the family circle of the interested one – to welcome him with joy, for reasons which I already explained…
Read Ibn Kafka's blog to find out why he's the only one excited.
2 comments
Well, I’m not sure this qualifies as good PR for me ;-)
One thing about Abbas is his obsequiosity, which is really hard to match even in the very subservient political circles where Prime ministers are drawn from. After his appointment, he said that he would apply the King’s to the letter. Previously, he had said that the King’s royal speech was his electoral programme and that he only trusted in the King to enforce civic liberties and Morocco’s unity and territorial integrity. He’s entitled to his opinions but he’s never going to be a Prime minister struggling to enlarge governmental and parliamentarian prerogatives under Morocco’s absolute monarchy.
au service voice global information.
attention,devant nous un danger a publier c’est le seher-diable volant qui menace la vie des personnes c’est scandale ici au maroc …un danger qui risque notre vie normale aussi securite internationale.
en effet il faut avertire tous les medias interne et externe …alerte.
hidar abdelaziz.