“Untruths”, “a denial of reality”, “excessive speech of self-satisfaction”. Criticisms from the opposition did not fail to arise after the presentation, Wednesday April 24 in Parliament, of the Moroccan government’s results. For almost two hours, its leader, Aziz Akhannouch, in charge since the 2021 legislative elections, sent a letter of satisfaction to each of his ministers. “What has been achieved has exceeded all expectations,” he said, detailing the results of his team at mid-term: universalization of compulsory health insurance, housing assistance, salary increases, public school reform, drop in inflation, reduction in the budget deficit…
You can share an article by clicking on the share icons at the top right of it. The total or partial reproduction of an article, without the prior written authorization of Le Monde, is strictly prohibited. For more information, consult our general conditions of sale. For any authorization request, contact syndication@lemonde.fr. As a subscriber, you can gift up to five items per month to one of your loved ones using the “Gift an Item” feature. https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/05/23/au-maroc-le-politique-d-aziz-akhannouch-sous-le-feu-des-critiques-de-l-opposition_6235084_3212.html If it was expected, for Aziz Akhannouch the exercise was only a formality. Backed by two other parties, the government coalition, which he leads under the label of his party, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), holds an absolute majority in Parliament. Opposite, the approximately 120 opposition deputies, out of a total of 395, do not carry much weight, especially since they are divided. Proposed in January by the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), a draft motion of censure against the government was finally abandoned. “By rallying a fifth of the deputies, which was arithmetically possible, we could have gone to the vote. Even if its outcome was certain, a signal would have been sent,” regrets a USFP deputy. For the opposition, the revolt now involves open letters addressed to the head of government. On Tuesday, May 21, the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) urged Aziz Akhannouch to “change [his] policies and, at the very least, achieve what was promised in [his] government program.” Main complaint: unemployment, which reached a record high of 13.7% in the first quarter of 2024.
You can share an article by clicking on the share icons at the top right of it. The total or partial reproduction of an article, without the prior written authorization of Le Monde, is strictly prohibited. For more information, consult our general conditions of sale. For any authorization request, contact syndication@lemonde.fr. As a subscriber, you can gift up to five items per month to one of your loved ones using the “Gift an Item” feature. https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/05/23/au-maroc-le-politique-d-aziz-akhannouch-sous-le-feu-des-critiques-de-l-opposition_6235084_3212.html Alarming situation of young people “Listening to the head of government, everything is fine, while the situation is worrying,” alarms an opposition parliamentarian. Aziz Akhannouch certainly underlined that more than 4.5 billion dirhams (418 million euros) had been released in order to create 220,000 jobs, but these are only temporary positions, notes the leader of a party, who recalls one of the RNI president’s commitments: to create « at least one million net jobs » during his five years in office. The goal seems unattainable. The High Commission for Planning (HCP) puts the number of net jobs lost in 2023 at nearly 160,000, to which must be added the more than 20,000 destroyed in 2022. An anomaly, according to economist Mohamed Benmoussa, member of the PPS: “The previous governments that Morocco has known for more than two decades have all, without exception, created net jobs during their mandate. »
