French politician calls Macron “arrogant” over Morocco spat

A French opposition leader criticised Emmanuel Macron for his attitude towards Morocco, reports Africa News, October 4.

Left-wing firebrand, Jean-Luc Melenchon called out the French President for his “arrogance” whilst on a visit to Amizmiz, a southwestern town close to the epicentre of September 8’s earthquake in the North African country.

Melenchon, who came third in the French Presidential elections in 2022, is the President of the socialist, La France Insoumise Party and has been a member of the National Assembly since 2017. He has ran for France’s top job on three occasions (including in 2022) but narrowly missed out on a runoff each time.

The 72-year-old wanted to visit the quake-hit country to show solidarity with the Moroccan people following the tragedy that killed 2,900 people and is expected to meet with leftist political leaders from the ex-French colony.

Whilst praising the Moroccans’ grit and determination the political veteran called on Macron, and France more generally, to be humbler.

In a passionate speech he said, “It’s enough, we have to turn the page on arrogance, on giving lessons, on looking down on people and all that special atmosphere we now have in European countries, which live like fortresses and seem to despise the rest of humanity without realizing that we have a common life. I’ll never stop saying it. We share a life, we share children, we share families. So, it’s time for France to lower its voice,”.

France and Morocco haven’t seen eye to eye as of late. Rabat has refused to accept aid from Paris following the quake and France has seemingly pandered to Algeria in the contentious issue of the disputed territory of the Western Sahara region.

Last month, A source close to the Moroccan government said that the country has no plans to host Mr. Macron despite French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna claiming that a visit by the French President to the kingdom had been on the cards.

Melenchon is not the only opposition figure to scrutinise the President over Morocco. National Assembly member, Michele Tabarot accused him of sacrificing ties with the country.

At a Les Republicains (centre-right party in France) rally in August she said, “I resent him (Macron) for having sacrificed our relationship with Morocco in an attempt to cozy up to the Algerian government,”.

AFRICA NEWS

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