Agadir, January 2017, Agadir February 2018, the circle is complete for Aziz Akhannouch and the National Rally of Independents (RNI), a party which he took charge of in the wake of the heavy electoral defeat suffered towards the end of 2016, a party which was then under the stewardship of Salah Eddine Mezouar. It took him a little more than a year to get it up and running and make it battle-ready, an organisation that until then had a reputation for being a party of bigwigs, apparatchiks, glory-seekers and careerists.
Assuming responsibility for the RNI’s fate, the political agenda of ‘Mr. Agharass’, the nickname given to him since his first ex officio meeting in Agadir, was clearly different to that of ordinary politicians, who, in the way in which they go about their business, clearly aim to promote themselves (and a number of friends along the way).
But Mr. Akhannouch is no ‘ordinary’ politician.
The long march
Prior to entering public life, Mr. Akhannouch enjoyed a successful career as a businessman, skilful investor and ‘mover-and-shaker’. He was then elected to municipal, regional and parliamentary office before embarking on an (already) long and unquestionably successful ministerial career.
There is no question, therefore, that the RNI’s incumbent leader is in any way intent on reviving his personal popularity or profiting materially from his position, since he is already endowed with a handsome fortune.
So, what is it that really ‘motivates’ Aziz Akhannouch, a person who has set out his stall on transforming the RNI into a real political party?
Very likely, it is his sense of patriotism. He grew up under the shadow of his late father who, as a recognised and respected activist in the struggle for national independence, was imprisoned in the harshest of conditions for his part in the National Movement and the Resistance under the Protectorate.
And the reason that he entered politics so late in his career was that he first had to win his managerial spurs when his father, the late Haj Hmad Oulhaj, passed away, obliging him to take up the reins of Akwa Group.
Today, after a year which has seen the RNI restructured from top to toe, several satellite organisations established (Youth, Women, Self-Employed Professions), regional congresses held (13 including Moroccans of the World), in the wake of the congress held last May in El Jadida to relaunch the party, nobody can no longer call into question Aziz Akhannouch’s reputation as a veritable statesman nor his status as one of the nation’s genuine political leaders.
And if he has acquired such stature, which is further enhanced by his reputation as a gifted orator, it is undoubtedly because of a realisation that he was entirely suited to politics.
How else could it be, given the manner in chalked up a personal victory in managing to remove Abdelilah Benkirane from the race to head up the government?
Para bellum…
When laying down his demands and conditions, he successfully side-lined the PJD’s populist firebrand in favour of its second-in-command, the more sedate and more civilised Mr. Saad Eddine El Othmani.
It was Aziz Akhannouch who contributed most to definitively resolving the political crisis which had lasted for six months, while the RNI, despite being relatively weak in terms of parliamentary representation, had become the lynchpin in every conceivable scenario in forming a government under the PJD’s aegis.
It was this man who took a gamble to ensure that his party, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), became the main political force on the domestic political stage.
Nothing is left to chance or to improvisation for an enterprise whose leaders are clearly determined that the RNI should become the leading political force within the modernising and liberal camp and the main party of opposition to the conservative Islamic movement.
With this in mind, besides building a major political party in the widest sense, Aziz Akhannouch has put forward detailed figures and projections which constitute a genuine programme for government. As a result, the RNI is endowed with a list of concrete and actionable proposals that are unlikely to be enacted before the current parliamentary term comes to an end.
And it is clear, therefore, that a new political reality has emerged, one in which the RNI and its leader are intent on bringing down the curtain as quickly as possible on the current government…
But of course, Aziz Akhannouch is wary of shouting it from the rooftops!
But, if one is able to come up with a detailed and credible political programme, highlight the three main ills afflicting the country – Employment, Health and Education – and the people’s demands, set up a committee to appoint candidates to cabinet posts (4 years before 2022!!!) and demonstrate a fighting spirit and sense of assurance as shown by Aziz Akhannouch at the meeting on 24th February in Agadir, it is clear that the time has come to do battle with the PJD, a political force which is the RNI’s nadir (look it up in your dictionaries!).
Is it not surprising that the RNI’s proposals on employment, health and education, are being made today despite the fact that RNI ministers are not currently in charge of these portfolios?
Is it not interesting to note that Mr. Aziz Akhannouch is proposing very specific initiatives, on recruitment, training, health, today, while the mandate of the current majority runs until the end of 2021?
Despite the government recently signing a pact of good conduct, the days of this coalition are now surely numbered, aren’t they?
Only time will tell but, already, it is clearly understood that, from now on, Aziz Akhannouch and the RNI are a force to be reckoned with, volens, nolens …
Fahd YATA
Original article : https://lnt.ma/politique-aziz-akhannouch-marche/