Morocco's Brotherhood camouflaging to make a comeback

The Moroccan Justice and Development Party, an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, reinforces its media presence with controversial statements every now and then.

This is particularly clear after the removal of the party from the Moroccan political scene.

Now the party works to maintain the presence of its leaders on media platforms and channels.

Party Secretary-General, Abdelilah Benkirane, has recently lashed out at what he described as the 'systematic targeting' of Islamic terms of reference in Morocco.

However, he did not clarify who is behind this targeting.

Some people said, meanwhile, that Benkirane's remarks came against the background of calls in Morocco for amending inheritance rules in the North African country.

Calls were made in Morocco for giving women equal inheritance rights to men.

Nonetheless, Benkirane vowed to keep defending what he described as the pillars of the Moroccan identity.

Far from qualified

Surprisingly, Benkirane appeared in May to talk about the mistakes Islamists made in when they were in power.

"The fundamental mistake of the Islamist movement in the world is the pursuit of governance," Benkirane said.

He added that the Islamist movement should only comply with the convictions, positions and morals of the Islamic faith.

The same movement should only seek to invite others to the worship of God.

Some people view such remarks as a clear confession by the man that his movement is not qualified to defend Morocco's religious identity or be an Islamic term of reference.

Benkirane referred previously to a change of course by the Justice and Development Party.

The party did this, he said, after knowing that its role was not to govern.

"The prophets and righteous predecessors were not after power," Benkirane said. "Their goal was reform."

He added that it was this conviction that prompted him and his brothers in the Islamist movement to change their course.

Benkirane pointed out that his group was convinced that Morocco's policy was based on violating Islamic rules.

"We did not have clarity about what we should do: whether to engage in politics or stage a coup," Benkirane said.

Contradictions

Meanwhile, some analysts said Benkirane's remarks are tantamount to a rare soul-searching.

Other analysts viewed the same remarks, however, as an indication that Morocco's Brotherhood would continue harbouring the same set of thoughts.

They castigated Benkirane's accusation that Islamic terms of reference were being targeted in Morocco, even without explaining the forms or methods of this targeting.

This is particularly clear, they said, as Morocco's Brotherhood only sought power.

The same group, they added, views all other people as a 'bunch of tyrants'.

Moroccan researcher, Mohamed Ouamoussi, posted a video recently, in which he said the Muslim Brotherhood had succeeded in deceiving the Moroccan people and selling an illusion to them, especially when it introduced itself as an alternative during the Arab Spring in 2011.

"Soon, however, masks fell down and the group lost the people's confidence," Ouamoussi said in the video.

He added that this happened also at a time when the Muslim Brotherhood lost confidence in other regional states where it rose to power, including in Tunisia, Sudan and Egypt.