Speech n°: 3
Minutes of a parliamentary session
Investment in Morocco has encountered some problems. It has suffered as the rest of other sectors from control and monopoly. Control, control of politics, control of culture, control of economy Long time ago, some were told to make money and keep quiet. This was what was said. Today, I want to tell people who are saying this that this is no longer possible. This is what we want to explain to people. What is done is done. We are the boys of today. We are the boys of the future. Morocco cannot function without a single body of law for everyone. Morocco could not operate if there were no equal opportunities for all.
If a man of power cannot understand that what he earns as a salary is enough, he has no right to encroach upon the territory of a businessman and compete with him in an attempt to lead a life just like him; similarly, a businessman cannot lead a better life if he does not work harder. Sometimes, he takes risks and ends up in prison. Sometimes, he may get poor and lose everything he has overnight. We have no right to vie with him. An employee in an administration cannot spy on a businessman and count how much money he makes and then tell him to go halves with him. This control is what needs to be stopped.
Let me tell you that all the problems that you mentioned, namely lot of paperwork, administrative difficulties, estate problems, I swear to God that Moroccans can overcome them. What they cannot overcome and understand is control. Today, businessmen know that this government has come in order to set up a logic of equality among them in respect of justice, a logic of equality in terms of equity, a logic of equality in integrity and transparency.
Today, today, there are some companies… we no longer receive and pay for the travel costs incurred by the families of certain ministers; we no longer receive a number of things that used to exist in the past. The fact is that in this government, we do not have a superman. This government consists of some people whose resources are limited. But this is not a big problem, for we’re not geniuses or prophets. We’re just human beings who are simply trying diligently with good intentions and the people want us and they still want us.
Take a look at the papers and read opinion polls and the statistics, they speak for themselves. We thank Allah for the blissful state our country is in. We are fortunate to have stability in our country and a King; we want to proceed together. Of course, they will not let us work and I’m not going to beg them. I’m not imploring those who, as your mate has said, Morocco has grown tired of: Crocodiles/alligators and goblins; Morocco has not grown tired of them, this is not true.
That man was arrested for those words because the latter, in his own mind, stand for specific persons and both he and I know who they are but cannot say it. He knows. He knows. This is not a problem. He understands. He understands. But what needs to be understood is that those people are gradually losing their credibility in society. They are known. Today people are well aware of the fact that this government has good intentions and is willing to make reforms, and investors are also well aware of the fact that this government has good intentions and is willing to make reforms; all the people, the world, the outside world know that this government is very serious.
And it has taken over to cope with the problems the country is enmeshed in. The government has come not in order to meddle with personal problems of people. There are some who shamelessly accuse us of assigning responsibilities to people from our party. And we have 11 ministers and we appointed 100. I only know three of them that belong to the party (PJD), more than 197 or 200 have no connection to the party and I do not know them at all. They were proposed by ministers and there are some of them I do not even know who proposed them. These people were chosen by committees. It’s possible for us to err in our choice.
Of course, if this happens, we will remove them. This is not a problem. But to go to the length of creating discrimination and the minister becomes fearful the moment he finds a person endowed with competence and belonging to this party, he will start feeling some discrimination against that person, as if we were living in the period of apartheid. At a time when this government is headed by this party, it is preposterous. Today, I want to tell Moroccans: May Allah Lead you to the straight path! You have to be proud of your country. It is visited by heads of states, who express commendation and admiration for it. Let your country move forward.
I’m not telling you not to criticize and not to practice the role of the opposition. Do practice a constructive opposition, a constructive criticism. But, if you go the other way round, then you will simply run up against negative things. We won’t let this happen to our country. We will and to the last breath cling to what procures the stability, the interests and the good of our country. Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah upon you
Discourse Analysis n° 3
Benkirane’s speech comes as a response to the widespread monopoly that permeates a number of sectors: economy, politics and even culture. In his argumentation, he lays a very specific emphasis on the fact that some fat cats (whom he knows and cannot name, as he says) at the top control almost all of Morocco’s wealth; meanwhile a huge segment of citizens remain vulnerable to poverty, joblessness, nepotism, inequality and corruption. According to the head of the Moroccan government, the instant he and his party were elected by voters, it was no longer possible for this uncontrolled monopoly to continue.
After having unraveled the backdrop against which this third speech unfolds, it is important to identify the medium in which the speech appeared. This third speech is taken from the official site of the Moroccan parliament and more particularly from a section allotted to the monthly meetings of the Moroccan parliament. This comes from an online source:
As a third step in our analysis, it is incumbent upon us to unravel the main themes (discourse strands) that underlie the present discourse. First, the head of the Moroccan government explains that with the rise of his party to power, uncontrolled monopoly is no longer possible. Thereby, it is part of the man’s agenda to wage a war against lack of government intervention in the economy to protect the poorest social segment of the Moroccan society. It follows from this propounding of Mr. Benkirane’s two major themes: selfishness and callousness as opposed to considerateness and compassion or caring.
The man’s job consists in bringing order to the widespread chaos of society. (Social and economic order) and that’s not all, for the man intends to put an end (so he advances) to nepotism, that is, appointing relatives or friends to positions for which others might be better qualified. As regards the criticisms leveled by the opposition members in parliament at the head of government, the latter invites the former to adopt constructive criticism (positive feedback). Similarly, Benkirane in attempt to draw the addressee’s attention to the rectitude of his party and restore people’s confidence in public institutions, he stresses the fact that the days of assigning responsibilities to undeserving guys are gone.
One of the salient features of this discourse is the distribution of different entities in the temporal dimension. “I/we-today/now” vs. “they-then”. “I/we-today” indicators that facilitate Benkirane’s representation of the discourse situation from the point of view he shares with the addressees. It should be pointed out that “today” is repeated seven times in this speech. Thus, the past occupies the space outside the deictic center of which the speaker and the audience are no longer part of. There is a time signal referring to the past used only once in the speech (Long time ago).The present and the future, however, constitute the space inside the deictic center of which foes “crocodiles and goblins” are not part of. To put it differently, Mr. Benkirane draws a comparison between now and then, pointing out the positive aspects of now and the negative aspects of then.
In the temporal dimension of the excerpt in question, certain facts have come to pass chronologically: in the past, uncontrolled monopoly, control of Morocco’s wealth, poverty, joblessness, nepotism, inequality and corruption. In the present moment, “Today, businessmen know that this government is determined to set up a logic of equality among them in respect of justice, a logic of equality in terms of equity, a logic of equality in integrity and transparency. So, here the speaker establishes a juxtaposition of two opposing poles, with regard to how each one of them runs the affairs of the country.
Benkirane foregrounds a gamut of ways of running the affairs of the nation, from control of Morocco’s wealth, poverty, nepotism, inequality, corruption to a logic of equality in all spheres. “Now” stands for the beginning of a process of change that projects itself into a brighter future. Whereas, the past embodies negative memories that citizens need to put a lid on and Benkirane is trying to convey the idea through his speech that it’s time for citizens to step out of this negative memory altogether and see that memory as if it were in a box, and bury it once and for all.
Two marked and salient signals can be discerned in Benkirane’s speech : the elements of time and space that rest on establishing a relationship between the speaker and the hearer. In the same spatial and temporal frame of reference, Benkirane’s stature is highlighted, for he is regarded as a savior, a kind of reality changer aspiring to extricate people from the jaws of the underworld. Whereas, crocodiles and goblins embody a spatial and temporal frame of reference that citizens have no longer any intention of reliving.
Again Benkirane lavishes praise on himself and his party; this self-praise he indulges in consists in portraying himself as an epic hero whose story is bound to end in triumph and eternal happiness; while that of his opponents is doomed to failure and unhappiness. Foregrounding the man’s connection to that salvation that is only possible with him and not with others is a discursive device Benkirane resorts to so as to warn the hearers that his opponents were the ones who brought about all the problems citizens are entangled in.
The use of religion as a political maneuver of manipulation by Benkirane is quite too obvious. Actually, many of those who have walked the halls of Parliament around our country have never used religion as a weapon in their political arsenal. Benkirane appears to insinuate that he is a savior coming down from heaven to throw off the yoke of corruption as symbolized by the former government and the current opposition, and to bring justice and dignity to the masses. “ Today, I want to tell Moroccans: May Allah Lead you to the straight path!”// “Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah upon you”
As a cunning speaker, Benkirane knows that religion does not only constitute a solace through which suffering ordinary citizens can assuage their pent-up rage, but it is also a system of belief that brings meaning where there is seemingly senseless life. As a result, I must admit that the man has scored points with the masses because the latter take delight in feeding on religion, a form of escapism for most of them, so to speak.
Another outstanding linguistic feature that crops up in the text with a very high frequency is the use of negation. Negative statements are more marked than affirmative ones. It is a foregrounding device typically used with a high frequency by Benkirane in order to deny or criticize a previous proposition that is explicitly mentioned; by this technique, Benkirane intends to dissipate the audience’s lingering fear of reliving the same nightmare they experienced previously under the previous governments.
Undoubtedly, there is a preponderant use of negative statements in the text around 24 times. “no longer” is used 3 times- “no” is used 3 times- In all these instances, negation has the function of readjusting and updating information so as to modify and criticize information previously introduced in the text. More importantly, the statements that involve negation in the text can be taken to fulfill the function of advancing propositions and creating new alternatives.
The use of animal imagery is another technique that is used by Mr. Benkirane to turn up to ridicule his opponents. First, the word “Crocodiles” refers to malignant and disobedient men, and this name includes the men who control the Moroccan economy and whose companies hold sway over all aspects of commercial and industrial life in Morocco, as economic actors par excellence, for their economic clout and far-reaching investment enable them to substantially intervene in shaping the political map and influence the crystallization of government choices, or exploit the economic status and press for the abolition of some of the economic trends that the government is attempting to embrace, in as much as those government choices do not tally with their interests.
The term “Goblins” refers implicitly and indirectly to all those invisible and unseen actors who actually control the ebbs and flows of power; their control of the decision-making process comes as a result of the exceptionally intellectual qualifications and abilities with which they are endowed. Hence, they find themselves in a better position to translate their ideological orientations into political clout.
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