Vidéo / Ouahbi: El Othmani’s government has failed to impress…

In light of his intervention before the Moroccan House of Representatives, PAM Secretary General, Abdellatif Ouahbi, stated that the party’s parliamentary team is pleased to contribute to the ongoing debate with regard to the government’s performance between 2017 and 2021.

“PAM shall abide by the constitutional provisions stipulating the opposition’s right to monitor and address the government’s policies upon taking office, in line with Morocco’s democratic path”, Ouahbi outlined, noting that PAM, like any other party, is required to assess the work conducted by the government during its term in office, in order to ensure the implementation of democratic principles in a way that meets people’s expectations”.

“PAM has always been keen on expressing its views with regard to the government through constructive criticism, for only those with poor political backgrounds shall believe otherwise”, Ouahbi pointed out.

“We are hereby required to open a democratic debate in order to discuss the government’s performance in recent years; however, we shall determine whether we are meant to assess the work conducted by the government as a whole, or shall we just hold one party accountable for all of the latter’s decisions”, Ouahbi wondered.

“As an opposition party, PAM has always been keen on defending the general public, by theoretically assisting the government while dealing with Morocco’s public affairs”, he resumed.

“Our party has always been subjective vis-à-vis the government’s performance, for our objective was to never abide by baseless ideologies with the purpose of creating inner imbalances”, PAM’s chief claimed.

“The people of Morocco have endured critical circumstances due to the pandemic, however, facts stipulate that our country had been suffering at different levels, long before the virus outbreak”, Ouahbi declared, stressing that Covid-19 is no excuse for the government to justify its failure upon dealing with the situation.

“It is true that the pandemic brought upon a series of repercussions to both our society and economy, yet, the government was unable to save significant sectors from decay”, Ouahbi indicated.

On the social level, social inequalities in our country have exacerbated rapidly, at a time where the economic sector took a serious hit by scoring low transaction rates, thus causing thousands of people to lose their jobs, he noted.

During that time, the government stood by clueless, for it seemed to be rather focused on electoral laws, in a way that was found irritating by large margins within our society, Ouahbi revealed.

Ten years have passed since the new Moroccan constitution entered into force, yet, the government chose to single-handedly promote its propaganda with no regard to what people actually need and preach for, Ouahbi stressed.

While assessing the government’s achievements upon its term in office, we came to realize that two thirds of the Moroccan population engage in unstructured work environments; besides, our data revealed that hospitals in Morocco could not handle the few thousands who came out seeking medical attention, he stated.

Within the same context, Ouahbi claimed that the educational system in Morocco took a turn for the worse during that time, adding that both handicrafts and agricultural production dropped significantly in a way that was found to be alarming to say the least.

“Upon taking charge back in 2011, the government eyed a nominal growth of 7% (GDP), however, it barely reached an estimated 3% in its first year, and 4.5% one year later. In the following years, the growth rates remained variable (between 4.5% and -6.1%), thus, bringing the average growth rate – after two mandates – to an even 2.5%”.

“In light of these worrying data, HM King Mohamed VI felt the need to establish new partnerships with several African countries, provided that countries such as Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Ethiopia, reached a growth rate of 8%, 9% and 10%, respectively”.

“Meanwhile, according to HCP data, Morocco’s unemployment rate back in 2011 was estimated at 8.9%, yet, this number has reached 12% last year, and it seems that such rate is very likely to go even higher in the near future”.

Based on these numbers, it is safe to say that the government, throughout its two-term-period, has failed to improve life for Moroccans everywhere, Ouahbi declared.

This stagnated situation led Morocco’s youth within different regions to go on the offensive by organizing several demonstrations, Ouahbi noted, pointing that some of these demonstrators turned into detainees, and became subject to several human rights violations.

The rise in unemployment rates has led to serious sociologic shifts, for our youth today feel some sort of injustice that keeps on haunting their dreams and aspirations, Ouahbi recalled.

With regard to Morocco’s finances, we were quite shocked to learn that our country’s treasury debt has gone from 52.5% in 2011, to 76% in 2020, he revealed, stressing that Morocco’s free-trade agreements with some of its neighbouring countries prove for a fact that the government has failed in maintaining Morocco’s financial independence.

On the other hand, Morocco’s “green plan” has failed to impress as well, Ouahbi resumed, noting that the import-export system only benefits large scale farmers, while those with limited agricultural potential keep on suffering in dead silence.

The situation imposed by the pandemic was in fact a golden opportunity for the government to restore trust amongst its people, but sadly, the government’s vulnerability during all this time caused most subjects to lose faith in their respective rulers, Ouahbi outlined.

In the prospect of ensuring social stability, HM has shown a great deal of political awareness by addressing the question on the distribution of wealth, besides announcing a series of new measures in support of Morocco’s economy with the main emphasis on enterprises, Ouahbi said.

For ten years, the government has failed to bring upon prosperity to the people of Morocco, for it has genuinely weakened the middle class in our count ry, without realizing that the latter is important for social stability and consumption power, he added.

At the end, we would like to express our gratitude to those who worked tirelessly to ensure our well-being throughout the pandemic. We shall also praise the Royal Armed Forces, the Royal Gendarmerie, the National Security and the Auxiliary Forces, for their devotion and sacrifice, Ouahbi concluded.

“We shall all stand behind HM the King, in his effort to bring upon social stability and territorial integrity”.