Rabat – The Justice and Development Party (PJD) has reiterated its unchanged position, reaffirming it will remain in opposition.
Mustapha El Khalfi, a member of the PJD’s General Secretariat, renewed the party’s position in an interview, stating that the decision is linked to the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM).
PAM won the legislative elections with 97 seats, sparking criticism, especially from the PJD, which accused it of electoral irregularities during the elections.
El Khalfi said PAM “announced that it came to fight Islamists and fight the Justice and Development Party,” a legitimate reason for the PJD not to accept being in the same government.
“We cannot join hands with it at the level of government work,” El Khalfi said.
Earlier this week, King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Morocco’s first-ever female Head of Government. While the appointment is significant for women’s empowerment in Morocco, it also sparked division among Moroccans who do not see PAM as fit to run another government.
PAM was already part of the government coalition led by the National Rally of Independents (RNI) under former Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, whose cabinet still runs the country pending the formation of a new government.
Following her appointment, El Mansouri is now carrying out a series of consultations with political parties to form a government coalition.
PJD, under Abdelilah Benkirane, decided to stay in opposition after securing 54 seats. Benkirane said the party is the real winner, stressing that the party is now becoming stronger as an opposition party. In 2021, the PJD only secured 13 seats.
El Khalfi renewed the PJD’s opposition to several positions held by PAM, pointing to sharp disagreements between the two parties over the revision of the Family Code, among others.
He said the disagreement also covers the fight against corruption.
“PAM withdrew the law on illicit enrichment from Parliament, as well as disagreements over citizens’ purchasing power,” El Khalfi said, citing PAM’s vote against a bill concerning a cap on fuel prices.
The PJD renewed the importance of the votes it secured in the legislative elections, attributing them to continuous and diligent work.
El Khalfi emphasized that the party conducted “deep” reviews to examine the objective and subjective reasons behind the decline in its results.
