Abdelilah Benkirane Women’s right organisations in Morocco expressed their concerns this week about the new government programme announced by Abdelilah Benkirane, the new prime minister and the secretary general of the Justice and Development Party (PJD). On Wednesday, the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women (ADFM) criticised Benkirane’s programme as it did not include women’s right that the country's constitution provided. Meanwhile, Amina Bouayach, the head of Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights (OMDH) issued a statement criticsing the new government-led programme that was presented on January 19.
According to the ADFM, one of the most well known women organisation in Morocco, the Islamist party that formed the new government overlooked women’s right explicitly provided in item 19 of the Moroccan constitution.
In a statement, the ADFM pointed out that the programme put Moroccan women in a private frame (inside the family), meaning women should "tolerate some rights in favour of the family". In addition, the organisation said the programme did not consider the Moroccan women as citizens away from the family (as a mother, wife or daughter).
Benkirane in his programme predicted a 5.5 per cent growth over the next four years and reducing the unemployment rate to 8 per cent; as well as promising to stabilise the inflation at an appropriate 2 per cent and slash the budget deficit to 3 per cent of Morocco's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He also vowed a better execution of the “Cities without Slums” project by expediting the construction of 840,000 housing unit, which to many was a motivating and inspirational initiative. Women's rights organisations however believe that the programme included general policies and did nothing to reflect women’s role in society and Moroccan women's achievements during the past years.
OMDH head Bouayach stated: “Item 88 in the Moroccan constitution provides that the government should present a program with an action plan that included numbers and statistics, while what was presented by the PM was a general statement.”
The organisation also pointed out that the programme didn’t include the government's commitment to the international agreements that were signed by Morocco.
In addition, the organisation called on the government to set a mechanism to reactivate the agreements that related to women’s rights and initiate talks with women’s right organisations in Morocco.