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Rabat – The Moroccan Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, has responded to the wave of criticism that has met his dismissal of many citizen’s nepotism suspicions, claiming that he “apologizes” if his words “have been misinterpreted.”
The justice minister, who is also the secretary general of the ruling Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), sparked nationwide uproar earlier this week with controversial remarks as many on social media questioned the legitimacy of the latest bar examination results over suspicions of nepotism and favoritism.
With leaked lists of the results showing similarities in the surnames of people who passed the exam, many enraged commenters linked some of the last names in the results to the family names of famous, influential lawyers – including Ouahbi.
In comments to journalists on Monday to address the nepotism allegations, the minister argued that there was no favoritism or nepotism in the compilation of the results because the exam grades were computed “automatically and not by humans.”
Ouahbi also dismissed calls for an investigation into the favoritism allegations, saying: “This is not a crime for me to open an investigation. Should I open an investigation just because someone sitting in a cafe asked me to?”
When a journalist asked Ouahbi whether his son had also passed the bar examination, the minister answered angrily, saying: “My son has two bachelor degrees from Montreal… His father is rich and paid for education abroad.”
The minister’s apparent contempt provoked more controversy and frustration, with many citizens accusing him of denigrating Morocco’s education system and universities.
‘I felt provoked’
In response to the heavy criticism he has been receiving since his Monday’s comments, Ouahbi spoke to SNRTNews in hopes of setting the record straight and defusing the backlash.
In the interview, Ouahbi claimed that he adopted an angry tone in his earlier remarks because he felt “provoked” by the journalist’s question on his son.
“I felt provoked when I said my son has two degrees. Indeed, he has two: one from Canada and a second from Morocco. He studied in Morocco with Moroccan children. He was educated by a Moroccan university, like me,” he said.
As for the criticism he has received from ordinary Moroccans regarding his dismissive attitude, the minister said that he apologizes if his “words have been misinterpreted.”
“If some journalists manipulate or edited videos to manipulate what I have said, those who listen should be reasonable,” the minister said, adding: I apologize to the Moroccan university and to the professors who taught me.”
Despite Ouahbi’s apology, many law students and other commenters on social media platforms have continued to call for an investigation into the favoritism and nepotism concerns over the bar examination results.
A PhD student expressed anger at the way the results were handled, stressing that there clearly was “clientelism” in the exams.
“The results of the exams indicated a clear clientelism… We were not born in March.. It was clear. This result shows that they are full of corruption and clientelism,” she said.
