Moroccan Political Tensions Escalate: PJD Leader Criticizes Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Exchange

The Secretary General of the PJD did not appreciate the remarks made by the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, towards the PJD deputy Abdellah Bouanou, during the monthly session of general policy questions, last Monday at the House of Representatives. "Certain questions do not deserve an answer. This has been going on for 5 to 7 years. The Moroccans know it and the election results are there to attest to it. You ask others to do in six months what you could not do in ten years," Aziz Akhannouch had stated.

To further drive the point home, the Head of Government stated that "it was the PJD that increased prices, that liberalized fuel. They were at the helm for ten years and could not secure a national strategic stock of hydrocarbons".

Benkirane’s response did not take long. He said he fully assumed this decision, even though he acknowledges having made a mistake in thinking that liberalization would act on competition and lower prices. "The companies have probably agreed to recover in one way or another the amounts allocated to them by the Compensation Fund. They continued to sell at a high price, while the barrel fell below $40. This would have allowed them to share an additional 17 billion dirhams in profits," he said.

Like many Moroccans, Abdelilah Benkirane also said he understands the exceptional situation imposed by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but he thinks the government could have acted differently by accepting sacrifices to relieve the population. "The distribution companies, whose profits would have reached 38 billion dirhams, could in turn make an effort and reduce their margins. A gesture that could have relieved consumers," Abdelilah Benkirane thus stressed.

During the debate on Monday in parliament, Aziz Akhannouch expressed reservations about the figures announced by the PJD leaders. An attitude that irritated the Secretary General of the PJD, who asked the Head of Government to show gratitude for the work done by his predecessors. "If it weren’t for this reform, you would find yourself facing a hole in the budget today," he retorted.

Regarding Aziz Akhannouch’s "accusations" about the management of the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline issue, Benkirane described his remarks as "serious", adding that it was a "sovereign" decision and that the King was closely following this file.