On Monday 5 September, 2011, the Moroccan government launched a campaign to showcase its “achievements” since attaining power. Posters and randomly sent SMS text messages praise the “gains harvested” after four years under the conservative government of M. Abbas El Fassi.
Makassib.ma (Makassib meaning Achievements), is a website dedicated to the campaign which comes only two months before parliamentary elections expected to be held on November 25, 2011. Moroccan Twitter users used the platform to mock their government's claims.
Blogger Feryate writes [ar]:
With a touch of humor and loads of sarcasm, Moroccan tweeters decided to dedicate a hashtag, #Makassib, to parody the alleged successes of their government. Here is a small sample of what they have been tweeting:
Omar El Hyani (@O_El_Hyani):
@O_El_Hyani: “If you can't convice them, confuse them” #makassib
Yassine (@Yastoch):
Adil Amouri (@AdilAmouri):
@AdilAmouri: En consultant #Makassib .ma, j'allais presque croire qu'on a plus de problèmes au Maroc !
Nawfal (@nawfal):
@nawfal: Ce qui est intéressant dans #makassib c'est que le web s'impose définitivement comme canal officiel de com au Maroc.Ça c'est un vrai makssab
Sana Guessous (@sguessous) links to a video made by young pro-democracy activists calling for a march next Sunday to protest living conditions. She tweets:
@sguessous: Et pan dans ta face, #Makassib !
Here is the video: