Moroccan political parties are calling for the demarcation of the Amazigh New Year
Political parties renewed their demands for the Akhannouch government to approve the Amazigh New Year as a national holiday and a paid holiday, amid the stumbling block of the decision, which a number of political and civil bodies have been raising continuously since the regulatory law related to activating the official character of the Amazigh language entered into force.
Every year, Moroccans enjoy a paid official holiday during the celebrations of the Hijri New Year and the Gregorian year, which prompted the Amazighs to demand that these holidays include the Amazigh New Year, especially after the Amazigh language was legalized as an official language of the state, as a common asset for all Moroccans without exception, which led to the approval of the Moroccan parliament. In 2019, a law was issued to formalize the Amazigh language.
Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch had called, before assuming the presidency of the government in 2020, to “demarcate the Amazigh New Year as a national holiday and an official holiday, because of the symbolic significance it carries related to the celebration of identity and language.”
Representatives from his party, the “National Rally of Independents,” including Mustafa Paytas, the official spokesperson for the current government, submitted a draft law calling for the demarcation of “January Metabolism,” a national holiday and a paid holiday.
And the demand to demarcate the celebration of the Amazigh New Year, which falls on January 13 of each year, and to make it a national holiday and an official holiday, has returned to cast a shadow in Morocco, at a time when ambiguity prevails in the government’s position in this regard.
In this regard, the Popular Movement Party affirmed that, less than a week after the advent of the Amazigh New Year 2973, it extended in advance on this occasion its warmest congratulations and sincere wishes to King Mohammed VI and to all Moroccans, calling on the government to fulfill its electoral commitment by declaring the opening of the Amazigh year a national holiday and an official holiday. performed on it.
Al-Sunbula recorded, in a communiqué issued by its general secretariat, headed by Muhammad Ouzin, that it looked forward to the government translating one of its promises and pledges by approving the opening of the Amazigh year as a national holiday and a paid official holiday.
Al-Sunbula recorded, in a communiqué issued by its general secretariat, headed by Muhammad Ouzin, that it looked forward to the government translating one of its promises and pledges by approving the opening of the Amazigh year as a national holiday and a paid official holiday.
And the party considered that it is a procedure that is as symbolic as it is and an honest expression of the true political will to activate the provisions of the constitution and the legal reference related to activating the official character of the Amazigh language as an essential and authentic component of the national identity in its diverse unity. Several modifications since its release.
For its part, the Progress and Socialism Team in the House of Representatives called on Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch to approve the Amazigh New Year as a national holiday and a paid holiday, stressing that the demand for approving the Amazigh New Year became more urgent after the approval of the regulatory law related to defining the stages of activating the official character of the Amazigh language. And how to integrate them into the field of education and public life.
Khadida Arohal, a member of the Parliamentary Writers’ Group, said that the Moroccan people, at the beginning of January of each year, call for the adoption of the Amazigh year as a national holiday and a day off leading to it. This is a demand that has become widely expressed, especially after the constitutional approval of Amazigh as a component of the multiple Moroccan identity within the framework of unity.
In a book question addressed to the prime minister, Arohal stressed that the positive interaction with the adoption of the Amazigh year as a national holiday, and a day off in honor of it, will constitute, symbolically and indicatively, an interaction with national and constitutional principles, away from any political calculations or other narrow considerations, adding that it will embody an appreciation The striking Amazigh culture has its roots in the depth of national history.
And she called on a member of the Progress and Socialism Team, Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, to reveal the measures that the government will take, in order to demarcate the Amazigh New Year as a national holiday and a day off leading to it.
In the same direction, a member of the Authenticity and Modernity Team in the House of Representatives, Ilham El-Saqi, addressed a question orally to the Prime Minister about the measures taken to establish the Amazigh New Year as an official holiday.
Al-Saqi reminded the prime minister of what was stipulated in the issuance of the Kingdom’s constitution for the year 2011. However, Tamazight is considered a component of the national identity, and Chapter Five of it considers it an official language of the state.
Al-Saqi stressed that the Moroccans' celebration of the Amazigh New Year is a manifestation of their adherence to their established identity and their revival of traditions rooted in the depth of human history, caring for people, land, language and identity.
And the designations of the Amazigh New Year in Morocco vary from one region to another, between “January eggs” or “Skas eggs” or “Hakouza”, and it falls on January 13 of each year, and this year corresponds to the year 2973 in the Amazigh calendar.
Historians are divided about the origin of the celebration of the Amazigh New Year into two teams. The first believes that the choice of January 13 of each year symbolizes the celebration of land and agriculture, so it is known as the “Peasant Year,” while another team attributes it to the commemoration of the victory of the Amazigh king Shashnaq over the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses. The second.
Source : websites