Morocco: The Twitter Opposition Party

On Monday 5 September, 2011, the Moroccan government launched a campaign to showcase its “achievements” since attaining power. Posters and randomly sent SMS text messages praise the “gains harvested” after four years under the conservative government of M. Abbas El Fassi.

Makassib.ma (Makassib meaning Achievements), is a website dedicated to the campaign which comes only two months before parliamentary elections expected to be held on November 25, 2011. Moroccan Twitter users used the platform to mock their government's claims.

Blogger Feryate writes [ar]:

«لقد أصبح التويتو ما» -أي مستعملو التويتر المغاربة- هو الحزب المعارض الأول للحكومة» […] زوار هذا الموقع الاجتماعي، شنوا هجوما شرسا على الحملة التي أطلقتها الحكومة مؤخرا لتعداد إنجازاتها.
“The Moroccan Twittersphere has become the first opposition party against this government.” Twitter users launched a blistering assault on the government-led campaign aimed at showcasing its so-called achievements.

With a touch of humor and loads of sarcasm, Moroccan tweeters decided to dedicate a hashtag, #Makassib, to parody the alleged successes of their government. Here is a small sample of what they have been tweeting:

Omar El Hyani (@O_El_Hyani):

@O_El_Hyani: “If you can't convice them, confuse them” #makassib

Yassine (@Yastoch):

@yastoch: مكاسب قوم عند قوم مصائب ‎#makassib

@Yastoch: Some people's gains are other people's misfortunes #makassib

Adil Amouri (@AdilAmouri):

@AdilAmouri: En consultant #Makassib .ma, j'allais presque croire qu'on a plus de problèmes au Maroc !

@AdilAmouri: Browsing through the #Makassib website, I felt like there were no more problems in Morocco!

Nawfal (@nawfal):

@nawfal: Ce qui est intéressant dans #makassib c'est que le web s'impose définitivement comme canal officiel de com au Maroc.Ça c'est un vrai makssab

@nawfal: What #Makassib shows is that the web is now poised to play the role of an official channel of communication in this country, and that is a real achievement.

Sana Guessous (@sguessous) links to a video made by young pro-democracy activists calling for a march next Sunday to protest living conditions. She tweets:

@sguessous: Et pan dans ta face, #Makassib !

@sguessous:Take that in your face #Makassib!

Here is the video:

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