Rabat – Secratery General of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces Party (USFP)Driss Lachgar has openly denounced corruption in Morocco’s electoral process on Wednesday.
Driss Lachgar made this statement in a press conference held in Wednesday in order to present USFP’s electoral program for the upcoming municipal elections.
“Morocco witnessed the highest level of corruption during the recent Elections for members of professional chambers,” argued USFP leader.
He went on to add that some political parties used money in order to buy votes and even for “the purchase of candidates so that they cancel their participation”.
In this regard, Lachgar called on Morocco’s Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Justice to fight this phenomenon with the same manners and approach used in the fight against terrorism.
According to him, there is no difference between “votes trafficker and a terrorist…Both of them should be fought.”
Leader of the opposing party also criticized the government for scheduling the parties’ election campaigns ahead of the municipal elections in August.
“No Nation that respects itself schedules the election campaign in the month of August when streets across Morocco remain empty and voters are on summer vocations,” he explained.
“This date which was set by the majority will have a negative impact on the municipal elections;” Driss Lachgar concluded.
lachgar has also unveiled the amount of money that his party will allocate to finance the election campaign, saying it has been estimated at MAD 11.5 million.
He added that MAD 6 million of this amounts was received from the Ministry of Interior, pointing out that the party” has rejected an additional sum estimated at MAD5.5 million.”
In February, the Moroccan government announced that the municipal elections, originally slated for June, would be postponed until September.
The rescheduling of the elections was requested by the opposition and approved by the government.
