Survey: Moroccans Lose Faith in Government Over Soaring Fuel Prices and SAMIR Refinery Issues

A recent survey conducted by the Moroccan Center for Citizenship and relayed by TelQuel revealed that Moroccans are dissatisfied with the government’s management of hydrocarbon prices and the situation of the Société Anonyme Marocaine de l’Industrie du Raffinage (SAMIR). Among the respondents, more than 95% expressed their dissatisfaction with the government due to the general rise in prices, as well as the surge in hydrocarbon prices. According to the survey, the link between the rise in hydrocarbon prices and the majority shareholder status of Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch in a leading oil company is one of the main sources of mistrust. As a result, 66.6% of Moroccans have lost confidence in the government.

The survey also reveals that 4.7% of citizens have expressed their distrust of the government due to the contradictory statements of the Minister of Energy Transition concerning the SAMIR file and that 71.3% of Moroccans do not trust the government due to its poor management of hydrocarbons and the worrying situation of the refinery.

The National Front for the Safeguarding of SAMIR (FNSS) explained in a press release that this crisis of confidence highlights the disturbances and confusions caused by successive governments and lobbies that exert control over the hydrocarbon market. "Despite the unsuccessful attempts to establish an absence of causality between the cessation of oil refining at SAMIR and the increase in fuel prices, the growing awareness of Moroccans confirms the government’s responsibility for the considerable losses suffered by the country and its citizens due to its mismanagement of hydrocarbons and the SAMIR file," it adds.

Consequently, "it has become, the FNSS believes, urgent for the government to take concrete measures to restore the confidence of the Moroccan people and ensure the economic stability of the country." "Reforms in the hydrocarbon sector are necessary to preserve national interests and meet the legitimate expectations of the population," it continues. Furthermore, noting that "the current situation constitutes a call to action for the government, so that it demonstrates its ability to act in the higher interest of Morocco and its citizens," the front assures that "the decisions taken in the coming months will have a significant impact on the confidence of the Moroccan people in the authorities and on the future of the hydrocarbon sector in the country."