Tag: Morocco

President Trump stares down the sleeping King of Morocco at a speech by the French president in honor of the 100th anniversary of WWI. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as…

More Rabat (AFP) - More than a month after its launch, an unprecedented boycott campaign in Morocco against three well-known brands has revived criticism against links between the country's business and political elite. Spreading like wildfire across social media, the campaign is targeting Afriquia service stations, Sidi Ali water and Danone milk -- leaders in their sectors -- and calling for a drop in prices. The boycott carries "a symbolic message from the middle class" against the marriage between political power and big business, political analyst Aziz Chahir told AFP. - 'Conflicts of interest' - The Moroccan press frequently covered conflict of interest throughout the 2000s, placing a sharp focus on the royal family and the National Investment Company -- since transformed into a holding company and renamed Al Mada. The enrichment of the country's ruling elite resurfaced in 2011 as the popular revolts of the Arab Spring swept across the region. Consitutional reform that year fuelled hopes for change, but the current government -- formed in 2017 by the Islamist PJD party -- brought in more technocrats and businessmen, along with accusations of conflict of interest. Elalamy says he has complied with the law and asked for an inquiry into the transaction to prove his innocence. "Nothing in the law prohibits businessmen from holding government positions," Abdelali Benamour, head of Morocco's Competition Council, told AFP. Fouad Abdelmoumen of Transparency Moroc said: "The state has not put in place mechanisms that define conflicts of interest and that contain excesses." The alliance between business and politics appeared again in headlines Tuesday, when Salaheddine Mezouar -- former finance minister, trade minister and head of the NRI -- was elected head of Morocco's private business sector.