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Morocco’s Poverty Crisis Deepens: 1 Million New Poor Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Friday 2 October 2020, by
It is a very critical assessment that the Secretary General of the Istiqlal party has made. After nearly 4 years in power, the government of El Othmani has distinguished itself by a long succession of failures that the Covid-19 pandemic has managed to highlight.
The gap between rich and poor continues to widen. The health situation in the country is most deplorable. All the reforms brought by the majority to boost economic growth and investment have not borne fruit, reports the newspaper Assabah.
In an address to the members of the Central Commission, Nizar Baraka deplored the lack of adequate social protection and the resurgence of extreme poverty, which has increased by leaps and bounds in less than six months. More than a million new poor have been added to an already very long list.
A great confusion reigned in the ranks of the Executive during the management of the pandemic, said the secretary general. The maintenance of Eid al-Adha, the ban on travel, the abandonment of families to the clutches of private schools, the dilemma between face-to-face and distance learning and the taking hostage of parents, not to mention the thorny issue of Moroccans stranded abroad.
By emphasizing social inequalities, the explosion of the informal sector, major structural shortcomings, and the fragility of businesses, Nizar Baraka has gone over the projects undertaken by the government. A picture that reflects, according to the Istiqlal member, the great confusion reigning within the majority.