Morocco World News/ Maghreb Intelligence
Morocco World News/ Maghreb Intelligence
New York, December 9, 2011
The bet of Moroccan Islamists to quickly form a government seems to be more difficult than had been expected. On Sunday, the USFP decided to go to the opposition after 14 years in the government. A historic decision adopted by the national council of the party deprived the head of the new government, Abdelilah Benkirane, of an important ally that is trained in state affairs and has some credibility within Moroccan society.
Today, the head of the PJD saw its room for maneuver reduced, especially against a very experienced and power hungry Istiqlal. To reduce the influence of the nationalist party of the outgoing Prime Minister, the PJD ought to include the PPS and the Popular Movement in its new government. If the former is not greedy, the latter may still complicate things further.
Informed sources in Rabat say that friends of Mohand Laenser eye the ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Agriculture, in addition to the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Yet these are the same ministries that the Istiqlal aspires to obtain.
Another concern for Abdelilah Benkirane is the nature of parties that are allied with him. Indeed, the Istiqlal, the MP , as well as the PPS are far from being seasoned hawks. The three parties are followers of an incremental approach to politics and could slow down the reformist ardor of the PJD.
Moreover, as they announced the day after their electoral victory, the Islamists are giving themselves a hundred days to take action, particularly in the fight against corruption. The goal is to make Moroccans feel the extent of changes introduced.
However, the PJD is not the only party in an awkward situation. The USFP, although it has officially chosen to be in opposition, will find it very difficult to deal with hundreds of Islamist MPs whose eloquence and vitality are well known. In addition, several senior Socialists are reluctant to cross swords with the PJD and put themselves in the same class as the liberal centrist parties RNI and PAM.
They consider that Moroccans have punished these two parties as a result of the campaign they staged against the Islamists. “You have to understand the meaning of the score received by the PJD. Moroccans have given a clear mandate to the PJD. It is neither elegant nor politically fruitful to attack them systematically from the start on all issues,” said a politburo member of the USFP.
Another executive of the USFP goes even further, stating,”If there is a threat against the democratic gains and an opposition to the goal of fighting graft, then we will stand with the PJD.” Those who already saw in the decision of the USFP to be part of the opposition an ideological and political clarification should put their analysis away and wait until the next elections.
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