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Rabat – Abdelilah Benkirane, the recently appointed head of government and Secretary General of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) said on Saturday that he was expecting to lose the legislative elections, held October 7, due to the previous government’s decision to reform the pension system.
During his speech in the opening session of the PJD’s National Council in Salé, near Rabat, Benkirane said, “Due to the reform of pension fund, I was expecting to lose the elections and leave the government.”
Benkirane said, “Moroccans did not vote for the PJD because of the reform of pension fund.”
“Moroccans are serious and the PJD is a political party that seeks to defend the interests of the country,” Benkirane added.
Over the course of this year, the issue of pension system reform has caused uproar among Moroccans. Scores of demonstrators have regularly gathered outside the parliament building in Rabat protesting the reform.
Ratified on June 27, 2016, Draft Laws 71.14, 72.14, and 96.15 will update the current pension system established in 1971 and gradually increase the retirement age from 60 to 63 over the next eight years, and cut the wages of civil servants.
The Moroccan pension system is composed of three principal categories: pensions for civil servants, pensions for employees of state-owned companies, and pensions for private sector employees. The percentage of civil servants and employees who benefit from retirement is higher than the percentage of Moroccans who contribute to the pension fun.
In 2013, Benkirane said, “Morocco’s pension systems are at stake. No one wants to reach a situation like in Greece…Of course we will negotiate with unions, but raising the retirement age is an obligation to avoid collapse disaster.”
