The winds of the Arab Spring that overthrew the Tunisian tyrant, the Egyptian tyrant and the Libyan tyrant as you all know will hopefully bring about the downfall of the tyrants of both Syria and Yemen. In Morocco, we responded to these winds in our own way. The party of justice and development, in accordance with its erstwhile logic, got involved in the demand for the establishment of necessary reforms that should be grounded in the principle of democracy. But at the same time, the party chose not to jeopardize the stability of the country and his monarchy by taking to the streets. The party adopted a logic based on a golden rule, namely preserving stability, the monarchy and rigor in demanding reform.

As you all know, His Majesty the King responded through the famous, strong and historic speech March 9^th 2011 that relieved the tensions in the country in a very powerful way. Right after that, a Constitution Reform Commission and a follow-up mechanism were appointed. The reforms were composed of party secretaries, that is, general secretaries of political parties. All this led to the vote of the first of July on the constitution by the percentage that you all know, albeit the confusion/disruption that accompanied the campaign.

The premature electoral process then was set in motion. The party of justice and development thought that it was no need to rush to elections and it was possible to wait for the natural timing and which could have occurred in few months. From the very outset, we adopted a method that consisted in giving our opinion, claiming it and insisting upon it, without making a break with the administration. We called for the cancellation of the old lists and reliance on the identity card. We weren’t heard. We also called for raising the threshold and allowing citizens who are abroad to vote and they did vote for the constitution. But we didn’t make a break with the administration, for we went on saying that we would remain part of this process until it would appear to us that things were not that serious and only then we wouldn’t be able to commend elections wherein the will of the people was not respected duly.

We went to the pools, fearing that the number of participants would be small. But the first pleasant surprise that night came when we learned that 45.40% went to the pools. As it is well known, this rate is first of all better than the one registered in 2007. Second, this rate is a rate that is democratically reasonable in several democratic countries. And we, in the General Secretariat, consider it an acceptable rate. Another pleasant surprise was the victory of the party of justice and development. I didn’t only expect this success but I announced it as well.

Thanks God, the results were much better than we expected and imagined. Regardless of the success we regarded as normal, this victory brought joy to the people and the evidence for that was that first and foremost, Moroccans reacted positively to the party of justice and development as it was targeted during a long period of time, and especially in the final stages when brother, Jaafar Hassoune was prevented from running in Taroudant, after being deprived of his right to a lawyer and removed from the judiciary for misplaced reasons.

Today, we can say that Moroccan officials have realized that the interest of the country lies in steering clearly and honestly towards democracy. Therefore, we regard what is going on in Morocco right now as a historic step that allowed people to retrieve their natural rights as a result of their discovering that the party that won the election was the one they had voted for. In other words, they didn’t vote for a party only to find out another party they didn’t vote for. Naturally as stipulated in the constitution, the party that comes first in the results of the elections will be entrusted with the task of forming the government and the future prime minister will be chosen from it.

Without a doubt, you all know the Koutla (a political coalition that includes the party of independence, the party of Progress and Socialism, the Socialist Union of Popular Force) expressed its readiness/willingness to ally with the party of Justice and Development. And we said first and foremost we will not set about contacting anyone, out of respect, until the Prime Minister is appointed. Second, we will ally with any party except one party; no need to mention its name, for you all know which it is. The party of Justice and Development today doesn’t believe that it has come in an ambience of normal process as a normal party that is to continue a normal stage. The party is well aware of the expectations; it is well aware of the social tension; it’s well aware of the fact that the street hasn’t calmed down yet; it’s aware of the political, economic and social problems.

But, contacts are being made from different sides to secure support from businessmen, from a broad range of political beliefs that are not accustomed to responding to the party of Justice and Development. We pin our hope on the future. We’re waiting for the King’s nomination; then if Allah wills we will set about establishing the government. And after that, the work of the government will begin, with the Blessings of Allah. We are certain that Moroccans will notice -from the very first days of the government that will be headed by the party of Justice and Development if Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, wills- positive and strong signs that will reassure them and open the door of hope for the future for them.

This is all I’ve got to say to you. I don’t need to remind you that we won 107 seats from 395. (…) With regard to the 20^th February movement issue, it is a social movement that expresses its dissatisfaction with how things are run in the country. This movement should take into account the fact that something unexpected did happen in Morocco: all parties accepted the outcome of the elections and that international as well as national observers recognized its fairness. Are we going to engage in dialogue with them? Well, I consider the movement as being composed of our brothers and our children, even my son was with them.

On Thursday 24^th, February, Mr. Nabil Ben Abdellah and I engaged in dialogue with the leaders of that movement. So I’m ready to discuss with them anything starting from tonight if they wish, I’ve no objection and I’m ready. Now, suppose the movement came up with something reasonable, why not implement it. If there’s only one person saying something right, we have to listen to him. If he’s right, we stand by him. And if he’s wrong, we have to face him. This is how a reasonable and fair state should be like. And if they want to organize marches and respect the law, I have no problem with that. (…) with respect to employment,

Morocco just like all other countries in the world suffers from this problem. But our country has other problems the root cause of which is corruption and tyranny. We will try to cope with corruption and tyranny and this will have a positive impact upon employment. As far as the election results are concerned, I think it’s a vote of confidence and hope and not of sanction (C’est un vote de confiance et d’espoir)  (…) When we were making preparations for the constitutional reforms, the sacredness of the person of His Majesty posed a problem to our frame of reference. What is the meaning of the sacredness of the person of the king? We know that it is borrowed from the Western culture. We asked the commission in charge of amending the constitution to draw the attention of the King to that issue. The reply came in the words of Mr. Al Moatassim, telling us that the King is telling you that Allah is holy and prophets are infallible and I’m king and citizen.

You can imagine the satisfaction we felt upon hearing this. This is a fundamental change that occurred in Morocco and it has constitutional manifestations. (…) let me tell you that according to the constitution the President of the state is His Majesty and he’s still Prime Minister. Let’s be clear, Morocco cannot be governed against the King’s will. And if this is possible, it’s not Benkirane who is going to do it. (…) a French woman journalist asked me “est ce que tu as prix rendez-vous avec sa majesté?” =Did you make an appointment with His Majesty ? I answered His Majesty convenes. If he convokes you, you have to show up and if you’re not convened, then you have to work. Take your decisions. Do you remember former First Minister of Morocco, My Ahmed El Araki? The parted King, May his soul rest in peace, used to tell him if you want something send me a note; if in two hours time, you received no reply, do what you want. That was the tradition during Hassan II’s reign in the sixties. How I wish that the ministers who would be working with us will not hopefully be afraid of losing their posts.

And if ever we’re afraid, we don’t have to be too afraid. If his Majesty tells you something, he’s not going to tell you something “incensé” =foolish and if he tells something that seems to you as such, you can respond in a polite way and if you judge his suggestion incompatible with the interests of the country, you can tell him “I can’t do that, sir”

You know what? Moroccans voted for Justice and development because the latter looks up to their intelligence. Moroccans are smart and can see through your tricks and if they realize that you’re up to no good, then you will pay a steep price. The members of the party of Authenticity and Modernity did pay a steep price for what they did.

Discourse Analysis n° 4

As customary, in order to have a better understanding and appreciation of the above text, it rests with us to unveil the context in which this speech was produced. Abdelilah Benkirane, Morocco’s new prime minister as the leader of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) at a press conference in Rabat on November 27, 2011, after the announcement of the official parliamentary election’s results. The moderate Islamist party won the most seats in Morocco’s parliamentary elections, giving it the right to lead a coalition government for the first time in Moroccan history.

The speech at issue comes as a response to the growing fear among a specific segment of Moroccan society. The latter evinced some sort of misgiving as to the real intentions of this Moroccan Islamist party (PJD) that won the biggest share of seats in the November elections. In the course of his speech, the head of the Moroccan government reassured the audience that the newly elected government would not establish radical changes to enforce Islamic rule. It should be pointed out that this speech came at a time when the expectations of Moroccans were very high, the street was simmering and people were running out of patience.

After having unraveled the backdrop against which this fourth speech unfolds, it is important to identify the medium in which the speech appeared. This fourth speech comes from an online source: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmmxp6_As a third step, we will attempt to bring out the main themes that underpin this discourse, and these are as follows: The man made proof of realism, given the enormity of the social and economic challenges he will have to face up to. In that press conference, Mr. Benkirane made several promises, namely the assignment of cabinet positions based on merit rather on party affiliation. Similarly, he stresses the need for his party to maintain the stability of the country and its regime (the monarchy), which clearly shows the domestication of the PJD by the palace.

Despite the palace’s full control of the political game and the main orientations of the country, Mr. Benkirane made it clear that his party wouldn’t flinch an inch in its rigorous demands for reforms. Here we sense some sort of ambivalence in Benkirane’s argumentation, for how can we reconcile these two opposing poles: how can the PJD initiate reforms in a political environment relatively controlled by the King?

To ward off any futile bone of contention with regard to the chart proposed by the King in his famous speech, Benkirane underscored the golden rule adopted by his party. This is indicative of his party’s rallying force, calling all the different facets of the Moroccan society to maintain order in the face of economic and social challenges. The Prime Minister goes on to explain that the victory of his party was a sort of a protest vote and another victory for Moroccan democracy.

As a response to Morocco’s 20^th February Movement’s call for a boycott of the constitutional reforms called for by His Majesty and all political parties, he explains that the outcome of the election reflects the will of all Moroccans, and the movement should be no exception. Yet he reminds the movement that his party is ready to engage in dialogue if need be.

The speaker wraps up his speech, laying out the issues, namely employment, corruption and tyranny that make up his political agenda.

Among the discursive methods that Benkirane draws on is quoting influential people and using the word “Majesty”(7 times) and “ King”(5 times) several times in his speech. As a matter of fact, quoting personalities gives weight and credibility to one’s speech (My Ahmed El Araki).