Rabat – Facing the anger and disappointment within PJD, Head of Gvernement Saad Eddine Othmani ended his silence and adopted a frank discourse, promising commitment to Benkirane’s political line.
Morocco’s newly head of government, Saad Eddine Othmani, has said that the new government would continue the reform that his predecessor, Abdelilah Benkirane, initiated.
During a meeting held on Friday with Justice and Development Party (PJD) members of parliament, Othmani said that he would not renounce his “constitutional prerogatives”, adding that the “fact that PJD managed to keep its portfolios from the previous government is a victory itself”.
There was no wrongdoing
“The new government’s program includes the continuation of reformative plans that Abdelilah Benkirane started, including there form of the Compensation Fund.”, Othamni told the youth section of his party.
One of the most important announcement made during this meeting was also Othmani’s frank commitment to pursuing the reform of the Compensation Fund.
“The parties that are currently leading the government have not mentioned their retreat to reform the Compensation Fund,” Othmani noted. “[Regarding] what is stirring controversy on media, I don’t know where the media gets its sources from.”
Regarding the criticism of PJD members following the formation of the coalition government, Othmani said, “We can make a mistake in the politics – but there is no intentional deliberate wrongdoing.”
Othmani explained that he cannot prohibit people from expressing their criticism about the structure of the new coalition government.
Opinion is free, Decision is binding
One of the most famous arguments in PJD rhetoric was “Opinion is free, decision is binding”. Each time during their arm wrestling with other parties the PJD has stuck to “role repartition”. Some members adopt a violent tone, expressing indirectly party’s position on some issues, while the official position comes to balance it and make it more acceptable.
This time again, Othmani used the same arguments to down play the impact of the current division within the party regarding his political line in comparison to Benkiran’s one.
“The PJD is not a Stalinist party to reach consensus on [the decisions of the party’s] leadership. However, there is a fair amount of ethics [for people] to express politely their opinions,” Othmani added.
Othmani’s structure of the government, which includes six parties, caused an uproar among the PJD membership, leading many followers to take to Facebook to exchange accusations.
Abdelali Hamidine, a member of the PJD politburo, wrote on his Facebook account on Friday that “several glaring mistakes have been made since the appointment of Othmani’s government.”
“Substantive repercussions have emerged since the evening of the announcement of the new government, which was certainly not in line with the aspirations and the spirit of Moroccans who cast their votes in difficult circumstances for the Justice and Development Party (PJD),” Hamidine added.
“I am the only Boss”
One the Other Hand, the head of government responded to the claim that his party, the PJD, continues to succumb to the pressure of Aziz Akhannouch, Secretary-General of the National Rally of Independence, and that the latter has more power than Othmani in the newly-appointed government.
“Akhannouch is not the Head of Government. There is only one Head of Government, the one appointed by King Mohammed VI,” said Othmani, noting that Akhannouch does not act outside of his limit in the government.
Othmani added that the leading members of the PJD do not have any “interests, or companies, or anything” that would make them succumb to pressure.
On another note, the head of government announced that the government program would soon be released.
“You will see the government program that will be released soon. It will be strong and will carry strong implications. It will continue the reforms, from which we not back down […] including continuing the reform in the Compensation Fund,” said Othmani noting that the allegations saying the contrary are not true.
