Moroccan MP Omar Balafrej Exits Politics to Support Young Entrepreneurs

Explaining his current position already announced last October in a long interview with Al Ayam, quoted by Médias24, the deputy of the Rabat-Océan constituency, known for his outspoken positions in the hemicycle, assures that his decision is rather linked to the failure of the FGD project of which he has been a stakeholder since 2015 but has remained without result six years later.

"In 2015, we promised a project to the Moroccans: the FGD, a union of the left but above all an opening to the youth and to all those who reject the institutions. This project was supposed to be done in 2016 then in 2017. We are in 2021 and the merger has not yet taken place. I therefore consider that this project is dead," details Balafrej. And to add: "I cannot come and run again under these conditions. I do not want to lie to the Moroccans. The conditions are not met for me to run."

Elected in 2016 after a very tight electoral battle, Omar Balafrej has made a lot of noise within the hemicycle with his positions, his hard work within the finance committee and during the plenary sessions where he had little speaking time.

The popular elected official, whose withdrawal from political life will make a lot of noise among the youth and is likely to shake up the calculations within the FGD and the PSU, specifies that he is remotivating himself to be able to present himself for a new term when the conditions are met.

Nabila Mounib at the helm

Indexed in public opinion as the person who pushed Omar Balafrej out the door, the Secretary General of the PSU, one of the components of the FGD, Nabila Mounib regrets Balafrej’s choice and says she respects it. She still thinks that the elected official has done excellent work in parliament and the party needs people who work. "Omar has done excellent work in Parliament. But human relationships are important in politics," advises Mounib, stating that she has no resentment or hatred for anyone.

Regarding the merger of the three components of the FGD, she specifies that this merger decision does not lie with the sole person of the Secretary General of the PSU, adding moreover that the discussions continue within the bodies of the three parties from which some divergences emerge that block the execution of the merger project.