With the death of Mohamed Haddo Chiguer, several times minister between 1964 and 1981, also a member of parliament until 1984, a page in the political history of Morocco is closing.He lived in discretion.
He died quietly. And yet, for some thirty years, he was in the spotlight. A spotlight that neither blinded him nor diverted him from the right path. He is Mohamed Haddou Chiguer, several times minister, parliamentarian, who breathed his last in a clinic in Rabat, Tuesday, February 15, 2022.
Originally from the Saharan tribe of Oulad Bni Sebaâ, known as a stronghold of Oulémas whose factions have taken up residence in Haouz and Gharb, Mohamed Haddou Chiguer was born in 1932 in Khémisset. His father, alem, taught fikh in the capital of Zemmour. Fascinated by public affairs, Mohamed Haddou Chiguer was elected deputy in the first parliament in 1963, when he was just 31 years old. He was re-elected to parliament in 1970 and 1977.
“I knew him and worked with him during the 1977/1984 legislature, we were both deputies, he was even vice-president of the House of Representatives. He was always smiling, helpful and a model of integrity. As Minister of the Interior, he had his hands on the State’s coffers in foreign currency and dirhams, but he never put anything in his pocket.He did not get rich as Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform,” Essaid Ameskane, former minister and former parliamentarian of the Popular Movement, told Maroc Hebdo.
It must be said that the ministerial career of the late Chiguer was long and he held strategic positions: first, the Post, telephone and telegraph, in the government of Haj Ahmed Bahnini in 1964, he was subsequently appointed Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform in the government presided over by His Majesty Hassan II.Haddou Chiguer was appointed in April 1971, Minister of Primary Education in the government of Mohamed Karim Lamrani.
He will become, less than a year later, Minister of Education in the government led by Ahmed Osman. It was a hot period. Morocco experienced two attempted coups, the first on July 10, 1971 and the second on August 16, 1972, led by Generals Mohamed Medbouh and Mohamed Oufkir respectively.
In this context, H.M. the King decided to appoint Haddou Chiguer Minister of the Interior in March 1973. This was also in the midst of the March 3 “military rebellion” movement, led at the time by Fkih Basri and whose objective was to bring down the monarchy. Haddou Chiguer held the fort, cleaned up the house -the elements under General Oufkir were still there- and above all prepared the Department of the Interior for a new life.The last ministerial position that Haddou Chiguer held was that of Relations with Parliament in the government of Maati Bouabid, between 1979 and 1981.
Close to his political beginnings, the Popular Movement and its leader Mahjoubi Aherdan, who died on November 15, 2020, Haddou Chiguer is among the founders of the RNI, alongside Ahmed Osman in 1977.He remained there until his death, but always in a discreet way. A man of reading, of great wisdom, his friends describe him as an outstanding intellectual. He was buried at the Chouhada cemetery in Rabat on Tuesday, February 15, after the Al Asr prayer. Many former ministers and executives, including from the RNI, attended his funeral. A page of Moroccan history is closing.
Be the first to comment