Funding resources of Morocco’s Brotherhood raise concerns

Doaa Emam

Morocco’s Justice and Development Party (PJD), the Muslim Brotherhood’s branch in Morocco, has the biggest budget of Moroccan parties with around 41 million dirhams ($4.3 million). That has urged Moroccan parties to request the Islamist party to reveal the financiers.

The National Congress Party accused PJD of getting funds from foreign resources. It requested PJD to reveal its funding resources.

PJD called for an investigation into the failure of the Morocco national football team in the Africa Cup of Nations and graft while the National Congress Party called for an investigation into the funding resources of PJD.

Abdul Rahim al-Allam, a political science researcher at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, said there’s no harmony within the government majority. “This contradicts the parliamentary characteristic as stipulated by the constitution,” al-Allam said.

“The situation in Morocco indicates that there is only a government coalition without a majority. The political parties are more like economic cartels having various brands,” he was quoted by the Moroccan media on July 19.

Commenting on the divide between Morocco’s Justice and Development Party (PJD) and the National Congress Party, al-Allam said: ”The divide is not new. However, no one has the courage to disengage from the majority. In fact, all parties found themselves either within the majority or the opposition”.

“Parties will lose popularity and legitimacy ahead of the 2021 elections,” he added.