Morocco’s PM rejects ‘caretaker’ label for his government

As Morocco gears up for parliamentary elections, which will be held in a few weeks, Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane said yesterday that he refuses his government to be labelled a “caretaker government”.

“This government is still the Moroccan kingdom’s government and it enjoys all its competences, and it is not a caretaker government as commonly said,” Benkirane said during the opening of the Moroccan cabinet council.

“We might be obliged to act as a caretaker government after the elections, but until this happens all ministers must carry out their responsibilities in full.”

He called on his cabinet’s ministers to do “the best” they can as the cabinet concludes its current tenure, and he called on the country’s institutions to fulfil their roles and preserve those institutions, so the new cabinet with ease.

Morocco is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on 7 October after Benkirane’s Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party rose to power for the first time in its history.