Benkirane Between Karbala and Tehran: When the Throne Becomes a Doctrine
In Morocco, some voices are resurfacing to stir the dust that the country has tried to settle after a decade of chaos and division. Abdelilah Benkirane, ousted by the ballot boxes, has yet to accept that the game has changed and that the streets are no longer willing to trade on his slogans. Today, he reappears with a tense and contradictory discourse, reproducing himself on a single premise: “Me or no one.”
The man does not present a program, nor does he offer an alternative. All he has is the quest to reclaim a lost seat, even if it means disrupting the political landscape or projecting a distorted image of Morocco abroad. He speaks of premature elections, stirs up the trust file, waives the specter of crisis, as if the stability of the country were merely a tool in his hand, to be wielded or withdrawn whenever he loses his position.
At this very moment, journalist Najiba Jalal came through her program, “The Sofa Talk,” to dismantle this rhetoric. She did not merely present the statements but placed them in their political and ideological context. She linked Benkirane’s escalatory language to calculated moves emanating from his circle, drawing on the symbolism of the street, evoking the discourse of Karbala, and intersecting with agendas that extend beyond borders.
Jalal clearly revealed how the Justice and Development Party opened its doors to well-known religious and media figures who instigate against the stable regimes in the region. These figures adopt a sectarian and inciting rhetoric, attacking Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while calling for an open alliance with Iran, within a regional project that aims to undermine stability in the name of resistance. In this scenario, there is no sign of trepidation from Benkirane; rather, it appears to be an implicit blessing and a political investment in this current.
The danger lies in the fact that these movements do not occur in isolation from the internal reality but run parallel to attempts to sow doubt in institutions and reignite the rhetoric of sedition. As if we are facing a distorted version of 2011, being revived with all its tools, but this time imbued with a more dangerous ideological charge and clearer external connections.
Moroccans rejected this project when they voted against it, and when they transcended the logic of acute polarization and hollow slogans. However, experience shows that the proponents of this discourse do not surrender easily. They do not seek to win the trust of the people but to impose themselves as a fait accompli, even through chaos.
The bet today is not only on the awareness of the street but also on the vigilance of institutions. Because those who consider the homeland merely a stage and the throne a sacred goal do not hesitate to cross red lines and do not recognize defeat.
