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Rabat – Minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi’s remarks on individualism have again gone viral online, stirring division among Moroccans.
On Tuesday, Ouahbi said there are no legal texts, stipulating that hotels should ask for a marriage contract from guests.
“Isn’t this a violation of their privacy? What is the legal basis for this request?” Ouahbi said at a parliamentary session.
“If the law does not explicitly require it, then demanding it is illegal,” he added, noting that whoever asks for such documents should be prosecuted.
Ouahbi’s remarks are consistent with his advocacy for increased freedom and individualism in Morocco.
In April last year, Ouahbi stirred a widespread backlash with plans to decriminalize extramarital consensual sexual relations.
A viral video online documented a discussion between Ouahbi and the Justice and Development Party (PJD) Secretary General Abdelilah Benkirane, who has been one of the strongest critics of Ouahbi’s liberal reforms.
“We are going through these conditions, and all you could see is consensual extramarital relations,” Bekirane was documented saying as he was discussing the planned reforms with Ouahbi.
Responding to Benkirane’s remarks, Ouahbi said: “Consensual is better than the beach incident.”
The beach incident refers to a scandal dating back to August 2016, when the vice presidents of the Unity and Reform Movement Justice were arrested under charges of having extramarital sex in public in a car on the beach of Mansouria.
In February last year, PJD accused Ouahbi of trying to provoke sedition with his planned reforms.
“Regarding sensitive points of this code, such as the possibility of granting more individual freedoms, mutually consensual sexual relations outside marriage, and shared guardianship of children, among others, it is necessary that all the answers to these questions obtain the green light from the government, religious, and parliamentary authorities,” he explained.
