Fouzi Lekjaa called for a “change of course” on Wednesday, blaming the policies of the past five years for putting households under pressure and pushing young Moroccans to look for a future abroad.
“The current course has made the household basket harder for Moroccan families to bear and has pushed part of our youth towards emigration,” he told a PAM rally in Marrakech.
Lekjaa went further, saying programs drawn up in 2021 had “increased the vulnerability of young people."
His answer was more growth, more jobs and an economy capable of giving young people a reason to stay.
“What is required is to build an emerging Morocco that guarantees dignity and levels of growth capable of solving the unemployment problem,” he said.
Lekjaa also went after what he called the politics of dividing up positions and benefits.
“Sharing the spoils and posts is an unworthy act that drives young people away from politics,” he said.
Read also : Lekjaa hits out at ‘sharing the spoils’, conflicts of interest in outgoing govt
With two weeks of campaigning left before the Sept 23 vote, Lekjaa challenged PAM’s rivals to fight over programs instead.
The questions, he said, were simple: what are the parties promising, where will the money come from and can they actually deliver?
He also returned to the controversy over the “Salon”, which PAM’s opponents have invoked in attacks on how the party’s program was prepared.
“Even if we used the Salon, we used it to produce a program, not to share interests,” Lekjaa said.
But his attack on rivals did not extend to every proposal coming from them.
Lekjaa again backed RNI’s proposal to raise the minimum wage, saying PAM had no reason to oppose a measure that could benefit workers simply because it came from another party.
“When we saw good proposals, such as raising the minimum wage, we immediately welcomed them,” he said.
He dismissed accusations that PAM was engaging in electoral one-upmanship.
“If it is properly studied, the government is still operational and ready to issue the relevant decree,” he said. “I don’t see any one-upmanship in what we said.”
Lekjaa opened his Marrakech appearance with a prediction of a big night for PAM in Marrakech-Safi.
He singled out regional council president Samir Goudar for the party’s mobilization.
“For the past 15 days, Samir Goudar has called me every morning at 7.30. I don’t know when he sleeps and when he wakes up,” Lekjaa joked.
The turnout, he said, had already told him where the region was heading.
“With this legacy and this massive mobilization, the result is already settled,” he said, predicting PAM would “break all records” in Marrakech-Safi.
“The 23rd of September, Marrakech will celebrate PAM once again, as it did when the party was born.”
