Morocco's five-party ruling coalition engaged in some soul-searching last week, as opposition leaders offered criticisms and elections inched closer.
By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat — 28/04/10
Morocco's five-party ruling coalition held a mid-term self-assessment and strategy meeting on Monday (April 26th) amid heated criticism from the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM).
Party leaders discussed "everyday politics," Communications Minister Khalid Naciri said, but the minister denied that they held the meeting in response to PAM criticism as the 2012 legislative elections approach.
The meetings are "part of the cut-and-thrust of events-driven everyday politics, while the government's activities are based on a wide-ranging approach that extends beyond the current circumstances", Naciri said.
PAM wants to push the Istiqlal Party (PI) aside by 2012, political analyst Rahma Mandouri said, so that it can join coalition members the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Popular Movement (MP), and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP).
"[PI] would thus find itself forced to work alongside the Justice and Development Party, with which it shares the same conservative ideology," Mandouri said.
PAM has criticized the coalition's ability to co-ordinate its work. The coalition's lack of consistency "raises questions about the government's ability to run major projects, to push through far-reaching political reform and to meet the challenges facing Morocco," PAM secretary general Cheikh Biadillah said April 22nd.
PAM's leader in the Chamber of Councilors has even revived the 2002 "al-Najat" affair, in which 60,000 job-seekers were swindled by a fictitious Emirati company. The scam took place while Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, a PI leader, was employment minister. El Fassi has denied responsibility for failing to stop the crime, saying that all the required legal guarantees were in place.
Participants in the coalition strategy session offered up some self-criticism, and some praise.
RNI head Salah Eddine Mezouar called for better co-ordination and more team-work, as opposed to individual efforts.
Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction with the government's achievements to date. Nevertheless, he called for better co-ordination between the government and law-makers, as well as more meetings to resolve misunderstandings and achieve unity.
Morocco's political parties will face a real challenge in 2012, political analyst Mandouri said: mobilizing masses of voters who have spurned the ballot box.
The political analyst told Magharebia that this would only happen if there were "clear and logical" alliances based on ideology, which would give voters an obvious choice.
"Unnatural alliances are one of the reasons for the public's disaffection with political life," she said.
Law student Amine Idrissi agreed.
"We're waiting to see clear distinctions emerging: left, right and center. We hope this will happen … between now and the 2012 legislative elections", he said. "The public needs to vote on a program, and not on a party that will then be unable to move its electoral program forward because of illogical prior allegiances."
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/04/28/feature-01.
By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat — 28/04/10
Morocco's five-party ruling coalition held a mid-term self-assessment and strategy meeting on Monday (April 26th) amid heated criticism from the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM).
Party leaders discussed "everyday politics," Communications Minister Khalid Naciri said, but the minister denied that they held the meeting in response to PAM criticism as the 2012 legislative elections approach.
The meetings are "part of the cut-and-thrust of events-driven everyday politics, while the government's activities are based on a wide-ranging approach that extends beyond the current circumstances", Naciri said.
PAM wants to push the Istiqlal Party (PI) aside by 2012, political analyst Rahma Mandouri said, so that it can join coalition members the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the Popular Movement (MP), and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP).
"[PI] would thus find itself forced to work alongside the Justice and Development Party, with which it shares the same conservative ideology," Mandouri said.
PAM has criticized the coalition's ability to co-ordinate its work. The coalition's lack of consistency "raises questions about the government's ability to run major projects, to push through far-reaching political reform and to meet the challenges facing Morocco," PAM secretary general Cheikh Biadillah said April 22nd.
PAM's leader in the Chamber of Councilors has even revived the 2002 "al-Najat" affair, in which 60,000 job-seekers were swindled by a fictitious Emirati company. The scam took place while Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, a PI leader, was employment minister. El Fassi has denied responsibility for failing to stop the crime, saying that all the required legal guarantees were in place.
Participants in the coalition strategy session offered up some self-criticism, and some praise.
RNI head Salah Eddine Mezouar called for better co-ordination and more team-work, as opposed to individual efforts.
Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction with the government's achievements to date. Nevertheless, he called for better co-ordination between the government and law-makers, as well as more meetings to resolve misunderstandings and achieve unity.
Morocco's political parties will face a real challenge in 2012, political analyst Mandouri said: mobilizing masses of voters who have spurned the ballot box.
The political analyst told Magharebia that this would only happen if there were "clear and logical" alliances based on ideology, which would give voters an obvious choice.
"Unnatural alliances are one of the reasons for the public's disaffection with political life," she said.
Law student Amine Idrissi agreed.
"We're waiting to see clear distinctions emerging: left, right and center. We hope this will happen … between now and the 2012 legislative elections", he said. "The public needs to vote on a program, and not on a party that will then be unable to move its electoral program forward because of illogical prior allegiances."
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/04/28/feature-01.
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