The first conference of the month of Ramadan, organized by the Lahcen Lyousi Academy, had the theme of the Kingdom’s foreign policy.
It is an instructive meeting organized by the Lahcen Lyousi Academy and the Popular Movement. A meeting which took place on April 1, 2023 in Salé in the presence of several leading party leaders, Mhand Laenser, Said Ameskane, Halima El Assli, Moha Lyousi son of one of the founders of the party, Lahcen Lyousi. Dozens of executives, elected officials and Haraki sympathizers were also present. The theme chosen for this edition of the academy meetings was “Morocco’s foreign policy: re-establishing new constructive partnerships”.
Moderated by Rachid Boufous, member of the national council of the MP, the conference saw the interventions of Hachem Benhachem, expert in international relations who dealt with the Morocco-EU partnership, Abdou Soulé Diop, president of the Africa commission at the CGEM and who focused his speech on Morocco’s economic diplomacy in Africa and finally Hakima El Haite, member of the political bureau of the MP, president of the liberal international. His intervention focused on the role of political parties in parallel diplomacy.
But the first to intervene was Mohammed Ouzzine, Secretary General of the Popular Movement Party and former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (July 2009/ November 2011). In a presentation punctuated with lyrical flights, Mr. Ouzzine, faithful to his way of expressing himself, not lacking in anecdotes, painted a picture of Moroccan diplomacy with its strengths which he hailed and its weaknesses. He called for synergy and better interaction between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, Parliament and political parties.
Advance The Schmilblick
There are not a thousand ways to strengthen diplomatic action, he noted. For him, “official diplomacy is certainly the main tool for implementing Morocco’s foreign policy objectives, but parliamentary diplomacy plays an increasingly important and influential role in defending the interests of the Kingdom and its just causes in regional and international forums. For parallel diplomacy to be effective, it is essential to create specific channels for Moroccans around the world, who play an important, albeit spontaneous and impulsive, role in the defense of national issues”.
The interventions of Messrs. Benhachem and Diop or that of Ms. Haite emphasized the key elements that underpin the national diplomatic approach as a whole: namely a win-win partnership and mutual respect. Both relations with the European Union and with the African continent, these are the parameters that remain decisive. This is also true for parallel diplomacy. Parliamentarians and political parties and NGOs need a regular exchange with the Department of Foreign Affairs to have accurate information and act accordingly. Held at a time when Moroccan diplomacy is reaping victories, the Lahcen Lyousi Academy conference is making its contribution to advancing the schmilblick. Far from overkill. And in the spirit of the founding fathers of the popular movement.
This article is originally published on maroc-hebdo.press.ma
