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Rabat, June 3, 2013 (MAP) The expected visit of Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to Morocco (June 3-4) and the government coalition crisis are the major highlights of Moroccan editorials this June 03, 2013.
TURKISH PRIME MINISTER VISIT TO MOROCCO
For Aujourd'hui le Maroc , Erdogan’s visit holds several messages and confirms the good relations existing the Moroccan head of government’s party, PJD, and the Erdogan’s party, AKP.
“The visit also confirms Turkey’s economic ambitions, notes the editorialist who points out that Turkish enterprises are present in Morocco, through supermarkets and public works, particularly tramways and highways.”
Turkey is currently the world’s 17th strongest economy, with a GDP of over 786 billion dollars in 2012, the paper says calling Morocco to draw inspiration from this model to build its own economic model without however copying-pasting the Turkish experience which is starting to lose momentum with a slowing growth last year, political tensions and anti-government demonstrations.
L’Economiste writes that the AKP is considered as a model by the Moroccan PJD as the Turkish Islamic party reached power through elections, and has been successful in the management of economic affairs.
Before coming to government, AKP had showed its know-how in local management, but it is now tempted by hegemonic ambitions and does not accept critics even when its actions are doomed to failure, the paper remarks, stressing that Erdogan, who is not loosing sight of economic purposes is visiting Morocco at the head of a large business delegation at a time when the Morocco-Turkey free trade agreement is already detrimental to Morocco.
Admiration for this country, whose inhabitants are three times richer than Moroccans, is limited to budget management and exports policy, the editorialist goes, insisting that in public affairs management, particularly freedoms and enterprise freedom, Ankara is regressing.
"Turkey is starting to pay the price of AKP’s hegemony : this is also a model to avoid », the paper further comments.
GOVERNMENT COALITION CRISIS
Al Ahdath Al Maghribia warns that no solution to the three week-long government crisis is in sight, stressing that even the leader of the two protagonists, the PJD and Istiqlal party, are no longer talking about the ongoing government crisis.
This a worrying attitude that breeds on contradictory remarks, says the editorialist considering that while this seems to be part of the ordinary political game, in the Moroccan case, this democratic showdown has produced a paralyzed government, with major reforms becoming hostages of the government coalition internal divergences.
The editorialist notes that reforms of the subsidy fund, of the retirement funds and other urgent issues are not resolved because of the government internal crisis and the tense relations between the party, leading the government, and parliamentary groups.
For the paper, Benkirane is the only one responsible for this absurd wait-and-see game. The entire political class is to be blamed because it has missed an important opportunity and ill-chose its political exercise style in a young democratic transition that is not yet able to handle ongoing upheavals in the Arab region.
