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Last Sunday, during a party meeting, Abdelilah Benkirane, Secretary-General of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), openly criticized Nasser Zefzafi. He remarked that the leader of the Hirak Rif movement should have shown gratitude to King Mohammed VI for permitting him to attend his father's funeral last September.
«Unfortunately, he chose to thank the prison director. Do you really believe the director could have released you on his own? It was the King who granted you the opportunity to attend your father's funeral and speak freely,» Benkirane asserted.
Benkirane criticizes Nasser Zefzafi on his release from prison for his father's funeral
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This Monday, from his cell in Tangier, Nasser Zefzafi fired back with a letter shared on social media by his brother, Tarek. In a scathing response, the Rif activist accused Benkirane of acting as a «spokesperson for the royal palace or assuming the right to speak on its behalf».
He further claimed that the PJD Secretary-General «has humiliated the nation and insulted its people. I am not a pawn for your disgraceful political maneuvers. Others have tried before you and failed. There's no comparison between someone who stands by their principles and someone who betrays for fleeting power and wealth».
«You are the last person to lecture me on morals, you who have oppressed Moroccans while living in luxury and extravagance.»
This heated exchange between Zefzafi and Benkirane, albeit from a distance, underscores the ongoing tensions between the two figures. At the onset of Zefzafi's trial, his defense requested Benkirane's appearance as a witness, given his role as head of government during the signing of the «Al Hoceima, Lighthouse of the Mediterranean» project on October 17, 2015, in Tetouan, in the presence of King Mohammed VI. However, the court did not act on this request.
The Rif protest movement, active from late 2016 until Zefzafi's arrest on May 29, 2017, condemned the delays in implementing this significant project.
As a reminder, the King dismissed several ministers and high-ranking officials in October 2017, six months after Zefzafi's arrest, due to the mismanagement of the «Al Hoceima, Lighthouse of the Mediterranean» project.
