HIBAPRESS – Rabat
Abdelilah Benkirane, Secretary-General of the Justice and Development Party, sparked controversy during his speech yesterday Monday, after mocking the Algerian origins of the mother of Mostafa El Ibrahimi, a member of the parliamentary group.
Benkirane's mockery came after El Ibrahimi's name was proposed to recite the Holy Quran at the opening of the weekly meeting of the Justice and Development Party's parliamentary group. He responded mockingly and sarcastically, "Even if his mother is Algerian, does he know how to recite the Quran?" before following it with laughter. He later tried to rectify the situation, emphasizing that he had no problem with being Algerian, and expressing his pride in that, before saying: "But their heads are as hard as yours," referring to El Ibrahimi.
