Morocco’s former PM reveals details

Morocco’s former Prime Minister Abdel Elah Bankiran revealed that the latest meeting of his Justice and Development Party witnessed verbal clashes between the members, while they managed to contain the differences quickly. He said that it was the second meeting under his leadership since his return from Ummrah.

He added, in a statement to “Arabs Today”, that the meeting provided a good opportunity to discuss the current position of the party and the recent developments witnessed in the country after the appointment of a new prime minister. He denied what was published over the division between his supporters and the ministers of the current government, saying that the party keeps its unity.

He stressed that the party keeps its position from Hasima demonstrations, stressing that they support the positions adopted by Othmani’s government to deal with the crisis. He refuted the increasing criticism against the government, saying that the criticism aims to impede the government from performing its role.

He added, “We also discussed a number of controversial issues, including the financial position of the party and the political developments witnessed in the country during the recent period.” Benkirane revealed that he was willing during the negotiations to form the government with National Rally of Independents leader Aziz Akhannouch, as he gave up his condition to include the Istiqlal Party in the government and agreed to the presence of the Constitutional Union.

However, he escalated the tone of his rhetoric against the remaining political parties, which he accused of impeding government formation. He repeatedly said attempts to draw a new political map would turn the PJD into a minority within the government despite the single party winning 125 parliamentary seats out of 395 total.

A number of members of Morocco’s Justice and Development Party expressed their anger after the meeting, as they expressed resentment over the positions adopted by their Islamist party in dealing with the increasing demonstrations witnessed in different places of the country. They called the party’s ministers to withdraw from the government in protest against its policies which could undermine their popularity in the Moroccan street.