Casablanca: the secret pact between real estate developers and election candidates

As the next legislative elections approach, negotiations are intensifying in the Casablanca-Settat region. Actors in the real estate sector, particularly those operating on the outskirts of the metropolis, are multiplying meetings with candidates and current elected officials. According to the newspaper Al3omk, these interviews, often "official in form, and secret in substance," take place away from public view in upscale cafés or tourist complexes. The objective is to seal agreements on financial and logistical support.

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This support comes with a price. Entrepreneurs seek to build networks of local influence to secure their economic interests and facilitate complex procedures. By financing these campaigns, they hope to win the favor of influential officials to obtain building permits or turn a blind eye to urban planning violations. This web of murky relationships also involves actors designated as "housing association barons," true cogs in this unofficial system of mutual benefits.

These practices are part of a context already flagged by the State. The Inspector General of the Ministry of Interior had previously revealed suspicious links between powerful companies and territorial officials, including mayors, pachas and caïds. These investigations reported illegal issuance of compliance certificates, as well as unjustified tax exemptions. Faced with serious violations of urban planning rules, the reports noted flagrant complacency going so far as the falsification of official records.

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This clientelism had direct repercussions on the local economy, plunging several municipalities into deficit due to non-collection of their taxes. Facing this corruption, municipal presidents have been removed from office and judicial investigations have been opened. As the election period favors the reshaping of these suspicious alliances, observers are calling for a drastic strengthening of control mechanisms to ensure the integrity and transparency of the democratic process.