2024-01-14 02:36:47
Hicham Oukerzaz January 13, 2024 At 11:30
This Sunday, a new highlight confirms the history of Morocco as plural and strong with its rich cultural tributaries. This January 14, the Amazigh New Year will be celebrated for the first time as an official paid national holiday. This remarkable progress was made possible thanks to the decision to His Majesty King Mohammed VI to make the Amazigh New Year a paid holiday, in the same way as the 1st Moharram or the Gregorian New Year. A press release from the Royal Cabinet dated May 3, 2023 announced that “His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God help him, has decided to establish Amazigh New Year’s Day, an official paid national holiday, like the first Moharram of the Hegira year and New Year’s Day of the Gregorian calendar. In this context, “His Majesty the King, may God glorify Him, has given His High Directions to the Head of Government to take the necessary measures to implement this High Royal Decision.”
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Three months following this press release from the Royal Cabinet, the Head of Government indicated in his PLF 2024 orientation note that January 14 was the date chosen for the celebration of the Amazigh New Year. “Considering that it is a main element of authentic Moroccan culture and identity, rich in its diversity, and confirming the constant commitment of the government to promoting the official character of the Amazigh language in various aspects of public life, it was decided to adopt the Amazigh New Year, which coincides with January 14 of each year, as an official national holiday with salary, in execution of the Royal Decision in this regard, and in consolidation of the constitutional character of the Amazigh as the official language of the country alongside the Arabic language,” we read in this note published on August 4.
On November 23, the Government Council approved two draft decrees aimed at integrating the date of the Amazigh New Year as a public holiday. The first decree (n°2.23.1000 modifying and supplementing decree n°2.04.426 of December 29, 2004) establishes the list of paid public holidays in commercial and industrial companies, in the liberal professions and in agricultural and forestry operations, while the second (n°2.23.688 modifying and supplementing decree n°2.77.169 of February 28, 1977) modifies and supplements the decree establishing the list of non-working public holidays in public administrations, public establishments and concessioned services. With this update, the number of public holidays increased to 13 days.
This official celebration of New and amazing carries a strong symbolic connotation, reflecting the strength and diversity of the Moroccan cultural fabric, and the determination to continue the effective implementation of the official character of the Amazigh language. It is also a concrete act, meeting the expectations of the Moroccan people, as part of the promotion of the Amazigh language and culture and the integration of Amazigh in education and administration.
Ajdir’s Speech, a founding act
Upon his induction, His Majesty King Mohammed VI was keen to establish the foundations of the plural Moroccan identity, to recognize and strengthen the diversity of the tributaries which nourish it. And the Speech delivered by the Sovereign to Ajdir, October 17, 2001, was a founding act in many respects. This Speech laid the foundations for recognition and rehabilitation of the Amazigh language and culture as a heritage of the entire Moroccan people and a factor of their unity and cohesion.
In this speech delivered at the ceremony of affixing the Cherifian Seal sealing the dahir creating and organizing the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture, His Majesty the King notably affirmed that “through this act, we want, first of all , express together our recognition of the entirety of our common history and our national cultural identity built around multiple and varied contributions. The plurality of tributaries which have forged our history and shaped our identity is inseparable from the unity of our Nation, grouped around its sacred values and its intangible foundations which are the tolerant and generous Muslim religion, the defense of the homeland in its unity and its integrity, allegiance to the Throne and the King, and attachment to the constitutional, democratic and social Monarchy. The Sovereign added in the same vein: “We also want to affirm that Amazighness which has its roots deep in the history of the Moroccan people belongs to all Moroccans, without exception, and that it cannot be put at the service of political designs of any nature whatsoever. Morocco has stood out, throughout the ages, for the cohesion of its inhabitants, whatever their origins and dialects. They have always demonstrated a firm attachment to their sacred values and resisted any foreign invasion or attempt at division.
The desire of His Majesty the King to enshrine pluralism and diversity as a strategic choice was clearly reflected in the 2011 Constitution. In its preamble, the Basic Law stipulates that Morocco, as a sovereign Muslim state, attached to its national unity and territorial integrity, intends to preserve, in its fullness and diversity, its one and indivisible national identity. Its unity, forged by the convergence of its Arab-Islamic, Amazigh and Saharan-Hassani components, was nourished and enriched by its African, Andalusian, Hebrew and Mediterranean tributaries. The preamble adds that the preeminence granted to the Muslim religion in this national framework goes hand in hand with the attachment of the Moroccan people to the values of openness, moderation, tolerance and dialogue for mutual understanding between all cultures and civilizations. of the world.
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