HIBAPRESS – Casablanca
Years of sharp political confrontation between the Justice and Development Party (PJD) and the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM). The PJD, led by Benkirane, spared no conference, statement, or occasion without attacking PAM and describing it with the worst epithets. Will he abandon all that today in search of ministerial positions for his party and ally with the party that topped the elections?
The results of the new legislative elections raise a question about the future of the relationship between the two parties, especially after PAM topped the results and is now in a position to lead the consultations related to forming the next government.
Abdelilah Benkirane, the Secretary-General of the Justice and Development Party, has in the past years directed sharp criticisms at the Authenticity and Modernity Party and its leaders, in the context of a political struggle that characterized the strained relationship between the two parties. Today, he is facing a real test between choosing opposition again or joining hands with a party he accused yesterday of all sorts of things.
Today, the announced results place the PJD (the "Lamp" party) before a new equation, whose title is its position in the consultations to form the next governmental majority. Can the new political calculations impose convergence between the PJD and PAM despite a long history of differences and mutual statements? Can the language of confrontation that characterized past years turn into negotiations over a government program and potential participation in managing the next phase? This is what the coming days will tell us…
The answer remains contingent on the political consultations that will emerge after the appointment of the Prime Minister, and on the alliances that will be formed within Parliament. The coming days will reveal whether the election results will open the door for a new rapprochement between two parties whose political relationship has been characterized by animosity for years.
