Rabat- A viral video of PJD Minister of Employment Mohamed Yatim holding hands with a young woman has awakened controversy over Yatim’s unfaithfulness.
The 28-second-long video has circulated social media networks since Thursday evening and shows Yatim holding hands with a woman who appears to be in her late 20s while walking down a street in Paris, France.
An individual, asserting that he heard from Hassan Badani, “a person close to the Justice and Development Party” (PJD), shared a Facebook post on Thursday night, claiming that Yatim had already proposed to the lady in the video and is awaiting divorce papers to end his current marriage.
Badani claimed that Yatim’s friends, family, and some of his PJD colleagues all attended his engagement ceremony to the woman, who is allegedly a 30-year-old Moroccan psychotherapist and nurse.
The 62-year-old minister has been accused of being in a polygamous marriage.
In July, Yatim expressed disgust at the rumors that he had taken a second wife and condemned the act of polygamy, reiterating that he would never engage in it, no matter the circumstances.
Polygamy is not an uncommon issue among Moroccan ministers; the former minister in charge of relations with the Parliament and civil society, Habib Choubani, and Minister of Human Rights Mustapha Ramid are both pro-polygamists with two wives.
In 2012, Morocco announced its commitment to applying the “ban on polygamy.”
According to the 2004 Moroccan Family Code, a husband must obtain his wife’s consent before marrying another woman.
The text reads: “The judge shall not authorize polygamy unless he has verified the husband’s ability to guarantee equality with the fist wife and her children in all areas of life, and there is an objective and exceptional motive that justifies polygamy.”
