Existing prospects for toppling Moroccan Brotherhood

Sarah Rashad

The Moroccan Justice and Development Party (PJD), the Brotherhood’s extension in the Kingdom of Morocco, is close to the scenario that most of the Brotherhood’s wings in the region went through, as a session witnessed by the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors revealed a strong struggle that the government headed by the Brotherhood Party is waging with the opposition, with the aim of staying in power.

The opposition Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) directed harsh criticism at Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani, questioning the possibility of continuing solidarity and harmony within the government coalition, as Rachid el-Abdi, head of PAM’s parliamentary group, did not hesitate to call on Othmani to activate Article 103 of the constitution to renew confidence in his government.

The country’s epidemiological situation and the government’s ability to deal with the corona virus was a major reason for the attack on the government, which led to some majority teams voting against the government, in addition to some majority groups voting in favor of the opposition amendments against the government’s will.

In turn, Othmani refused to move on the path of renewing parliamentary confidence in his government, considering in his response to Abdi’s request that he still enjoys the confidence of the majority despite its many differences.

Moroccan newspapers quoted PAM sources as saying that the opposition is exerting some pressure on the Brotherhood party in order to gain points, believing that by the end of this year PJD will leave the government until elections are held that clarify who will be the next prime minister.

Although activating Article 103 of the constitution regarding reviewing confidence in existing governments costs the Kingdom the burden of the political vacuum that may occur if confidence is withdrawn from the government, this is not the first time that an opposition party has called for its activation.

The opposition Istiqlal (Independence) Party had previously called on the prime minister to activate Article 103 of the constitution by linking the request for approval of a bill to reform education in the House of Representatives with a vote of confidence for the government so that it continues to assume its responsibility.

The government had received widespread criticism against the background of the curfew it imposed due to the corona pandemic, and for this reason, the head of the parliamentary group of the largest opposition party considered that the decision to close and ban the night curfew for the entire month of Ramadan is not inevitable for male and female citizens, as it would have been possible to avoid such decisions if the government had performed its duty in the best way possible.

Abdi said that the prime minister is lax in the strict application of the law in light of the continuing state of emergency and constant monitoring, considering that this decision will worsen the economic and social conditions.

The Brotherhood parties in the Maghreb are facing a state of rejection, and they are close to the scenario of overthrow in light of the rising waves of popular and political anger against them.

The Brotherhood is almost completely in control of the governments in both Tunisia and Morocco, which brought them criticism against the background of their policies that did not result in an economic or social renaissance as they had promised, but rather a worsened economic situation.

For decades, the Brotherhood demanded a single opportunity to lead Islamic countries to the “Renaissance Project” as they called it, but when the opportunity came, they failed miserably to bring about the shifts they had always talked about.