Rabat – The Moroccan Ministry of Justice’s controversial handling of the nation’s recent bar examination has now come under fire from several political parties, after igniting debate and protest earlier this week.

In a statement published on their website, the Moroccan Popular Movement party said it is “following with extreme concern this issue which has become one of public opinion.”

The party’s statement added that it is “condemning the government’s incomprehensible and unjustifiable silence and is inviting it to release a clear statement.”

The Popular Movement also demanded the “strengthening of the lawyer profession and the protection of its sacredness and noble values.”

Similarly, the youth branch of the Islamic Party of Justice and Development (PJD) said it contacted the National Committee for Transparency and Protection Against Bribery on the issue.

The party’s youth branch said it asked the committee to investigate the exam and confirm if there was any truth behind the allegations.

The two parties are the latest in a string of figures to criticize Morocco’s Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi and the Moroccan government over the exams.

On Thursday, Morocco’s Human Rights League similarly called for an investigation into the results, adding that it received “dozens of requests” from failed candidates.

Nepotism allegations

The appearance of names from members of the examination’s supervising committees on the list of passing students aroused suspicion of nepotism and “conflicts of interest” in the grading of the exam.

Confronted by a group of journalists on Monday, Ouahbi dismissed claims of nepotism, saying: “How many of them passed the exams? 60 or 70 out of 2,000 people who made it?”

When asked about his own son passing the exam, Ouahbi responded: “My son has two bachelor degrees from Montreal… His father is rich and paid for his education abroad.”

The statement enraged people even more, due to its contemptuous and elitist tone, with some decrying the state of Moroccan education while others criticized the minister’s classist tone.