Introducing 'Blwara': A New Era of Political Accountability in Morocco
Marrakech, Morocco, has seen the emergence of an innovative platform known as 'Blwara', which meticulously documents every instance of politicians using the term بلورة (blwara). This Arabic word translates to 'crystallizing' or 'formulating' and is frequently employed by officials when discussing strategic plans, reforms, and future directions. The platform serves as a public ledger that not only tracks the frequency of this particular piece of jargon but also links it back to the individual speaker, the date, and the source of the statement made. This initiative aims to shed light on the repetitive use of such terminology, prompting discussions around the discrepancies between political promises and tangible outcomes on the ground.
The platform operates as both a form of political satire and a vigilant documentation tool that captures Morocco’s so-called 'langue de bois'—the formulaic language often found in official discourse. The overuse of the term 'blwara' has become a point of irritation for many Moroccans, who question the sincerity and effectiveness of political declarations. As of October 20, the platform recorded a staggering 3,084 occurrences of the term, traced back to 1957, involving 429 individuals and institutions across 19 political parties, all compiled from 37 different sources.
Insights and Trends from the 'Blwara' Database
Beyond merely counting instances, the 'Blwara' platform presents a comprehensive database that includes snippets of each statement, detailing the source and date of publication. The site ranks politicians and political parties based on their frequency of usage of the term, allowing for an analysis of trends over time. Notably, Nabil Benabdellah, the Secretary General of the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), leads the individual rankings with 175 occurrences, followed by Saâdeddine El Othmani and Aziz Akhannouch. Politically, the Justice and Development Party (PJD) dominates the party rankings with 509 instances of the term.
The historical timeline of the platform stretches over seven decades, marking its first recorded use by Allal El Fassi in 1957, followed by a significant increase in usage during the 2010s, peaking at 340 occurrences in 2019. The platform's methodology is transparent; it employs an automated agent to scan various Moroccan news sources and parliamentary records daily, extracting sentences containing 'blwara' while identifying the speaker when possible. Entries that require verification await human review, ensuring the accuracy of the information provided.
While the platform diligently tracks political speech, it intentionally excludes remarks from journalists, experts, and foreign officials, as well as royal speeches, focusing solely on those who have made promises to voters, including government officials and elected representatives. By inviting public participation to flag missing instances and suggest corrections, the 'Blwara' platform actively engages citizens in its mission to enhance political accountability and transparency in Morocco.
Ultimately, terms like 'blwara' serve as placeholders in political language, allowing politicians to convey a sense of ongoing work without committing to specific deliverables or timelines. The persistence of such jargon across political parties and decades suggests that it functions more as a ritual of governance than a concrete description of policy, enabling officials to articulate ambitions while avoiding accountability for actual results.
As reported by moroccoworldnews.com.
