PJD Leaders Hold Closed-Door Meeting Following Royal Cabinet Warning

Radio silence at the PJD since the reprimand from the Royal Cabinet. Only a restricted meeting, more than 24 hours later, with the "office" of the national secretariat was organized by Abdelilah Benkirane, reports the Arabic daily Assabah. Present at this meeting were the bigwigs of the Islamist party: former minister Driss El Azami El Idrissi, former mayor of Casablanca Abdelaziz El Omari and others Said Khairoune and Jamaâ El Moâtassim, all men who have acquired some experience in the management of state affairs and the functioning of its institutions. At the end of this meeting, it was decided to convene a remote meeting between the members of the party’s national secretariat. A backtracking of the Islamists is therefore not excluded.

The PJD Secretary General had criticized the Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita after the latter "defended the Zionist entity" during meetings with African and European officials. "While the Israeli occupation continues its criminal aggression against our Palestinian brothers, especially in Nablus, the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs appears as a defender of Israel," he had castigated, stressing "the national position which considers the Palestinian cause at the same level as our national cause".

Criticisms that provoked the reaction of the royal cabinet. In a statement, it stressed that Morocco’s position on the Palestinian issue is irreversible and is one of the priorities of King Mohammed VI’s foreign policy and that this is Morocco’s constant principle position, which cannot be subject to political one-upmanship and narrow electoral campaigns.

Regarding the relations between Morocco and Israel, the royal cabinet stressed that their resumption was carried out in circumstances and in a context that everyone knows, framed by official communiqués and declarations. The driving forces of the nation, political parties and some leading figures, as well as some associative bodies fighting for the Palestinian cause, had then been informed of this decision, for which they had expressed their adherence and commitment.