Author explores the unity of the left in Morocco

The Democratic Left Publications published a booklet that includes a number of theoretical analytical articles on political issues. It was titled “Unity of the Left in Morocco…Why and How?”

According to data from the new edition, the articles address the current Moroccan political situation and its interaction with the transformations that have affected the world at the governmental and popular levels, and also include economic and political systems with their various approaches and theses.

The book’s data stated that the approaches of the new left in Morocco are based on the perspective of an intellectual system based on a purely socialist ideology, noting that “despite the profound influence of socialist thought globally by the winds of liberalism and the values ​​of the new world order (globalization, the spread of modern and advanced means of communication) that have displaced many convictions based on orthodox analysis and the normative view of history, culture and humanity, the Moroccan left has remained stagnant and says that Marxist theses are glorified and considered the most appropriate framework for party work and political practice. There are still those who consider the democratic alternative to be the application of socialism and the dissemination of the values ​​and culture of the left.”

The word on the book’s cover summarizes the contents of the left’s thesis: “…the left today is required to resume the cultural revolution to establish a democratic political culture in the political field, and to remove it from discussions whose fate it does not control (because it does not embrace them), and in any case they remain confined to details and do not rise to the level of dealing with the major questions that urgently require answers to them, and in light of which the methods of dealing with the situation are determined, and the program of the stage is determined.”

The same data stated that the articles included in this collective work “are part of the theoretical choices that the left is betting on, in an attempt to rally its ranks and pool its efforts, by raising questions and discussing issues that concern left-wing activists, regardless of their positions and ideological sensitivities,” adding: “If most of the voices in the left, and the new left in particular, raise the slogan ‘for the establishment of a democratic political culture,’ then the Moroccan left yesterday (the seventies), represented by the Party of Liberation and Socialism (formerly the Moroccan Communist Party), and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (the party that led the government of consensual alternation headed by Abderrahmane Youssoufi), was the first to raise the slogan ‘establishing democratic awareness,’ which is a slogan, as we note, the same concept, with a slight modification in the wording and expression.”

In this context, the introduction to the book sheds light on the importance of theory in political practice (the dialectic of theory and application), which is a Marxist-Leninist thesis, which includes a set of founding statements for the theoretical framework of the left, such as the new left, democracy, socialism, and others, in addition to a number of articles that review the stages of the historical formation of Moroccan society; in its adoption and its progress within the geographical areas, and the political, economic, and social structures.

Most of the approaches taken by the authors in their treatment of the Moroccan situation at its various levels and orientations depend on sociological fragmentation, so that the booklet presents, among other things, historical data, asking about the nature and hypothesis of the societal project that could potentially revive Morocco and bring life to its joints; this is in complete interaction with the political environment and historical reality at an intersection with the “Makhzen State”, civil and political societies, and with the self represented in the various partisan experiences, which lead, according to the authors of these articles, to failure and self-absorption, and entry into political and factional conflicts.

The author also moves on to pose an ontological question, concerned with the existence of the left and whether this existence is structural, dictated by objective and subjective necessities, or circumstantial; he also shows his endeavour to expound the methods and means that he sees as effective in making the left distinct in its goals and practical approach.

In this regard, the book raises a question about the political system in Morocco, whereby Moroccan society considers the monarchy a nation after it had been special. In this section, we read what the booklet wrote: “…and the basic embodiment of this reconciliation is essentially represented in the transition from the historical reality based on the privatization of ownership to society to a higher historical reality represented by society’s nationalization of it.”

Regarding his discussion of the issue of the Kingdom’s territorial integrity, the author believes that “the best solution to the Sahara issue is a national democratic solution that contributes to building a modern and integrated Maghreb space.” He added: “The new left, through the author, presents a self-criticism of the mistakes it made in its experience, especially regarding the Sahara issue, despite raising the slogan of ‘self-determination’ in the past,” noting that “at the present time, and due to the availability of new regional and international data, and due to the changes that have affected liberation movements in the world, the new Moroccan left has come to view the Sahara as a national issue.” In this regard, we read what the book wrote: “The bottom line is that the new left is required to overcome the sensitivity of the past with all the boldness and strictness that this requires, whether in relation to its own mistakes or the mistakes of others.”

Through its thesis, the New Left calls for “building institutions and embodying the popular will, within the framework of an ideological political vision that defines its features in relation to the culture and system of legal thought, social, political and ethnic difference and diversity (pluralistic thought), and the right to freedom of choice and expression, in addition to rejecting violence and freedom of belief.”

The book concludes by presenting a joint political vision project between the factions of the new left. It also simplifies its view of major issues internationally, Arab and nationally, and focuses in particular on the constitutional issue (a real separation of powers), as an introduction to building a state of law and justice. In addition to this, the joint project stipulates other issues such as human rights, the economy, administration, the service sector, the educational issue, the environment, and other thorny and fateful issues.