Rabat: The Justice and Development Party (PJD) has unveiled its electoral program for the September 23 parliamentary elections, under the slogan “For citizens’ dignity: upholding the right to quality education, effective healthcare coverage, decent employment and a supportive society.”
According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, the program is structured around five main areas, notably consolidating the democratic process, education and training, health and employment, with a strong focus on supporting vulnerable groups. In education, the party proposes ending the distinction between “pioneer schools” and other public schools in order to establish a unified, high-quality public education system. It also advocates making Arabic the main language of instruction, while introducing alternating use of languages in certain scientific and technical subjects, within a limit of 30% of teaching time, and strengthening the place of Amazigh in schools.
People aged 35 and over, who are currently barred from taking entrance exams for public-sector education positions, are also a focus of the party’s agenda, which pledges to scrap the age limit and restore the previous provisions governing public service recruitment.
The party further proposes revising eligibility criteria for direct social assistance and AMO Tadamon to better reflect households’ actual income, family responsibilities, disability and chronic illness. It also calls for removing basic consumption of water, electricity, gas, and telephone services from the criteria that may exclude households from social assistance schemes.
On the economic front, the program proposes a 40% corporate tax rate for companies operating in sectors characterized by monopoly, quasi-monopoly, or oligopoly situations, while calling for the restoration of a 10% corporate tax rate for very small and small businesses whose annual profits are below 300,000 dirhams. The PJD also advocates a “Small Business Act” bringing together support mechanisms for micro-enterprises within a unified legal framework, with particular attention to rural, mountainous, and remote areas.
It proposes replacing customs and tax exemptions on livestock and meat imports with direct support for farmers and small and medium-sized livestock breeders to rebuild and preserve the national herd. The program also calls for permanent monitoring and regulation of fuel importers’ and distributors’ profit margins, as well as measures to strengthen national identity, protect children from exploitation, violence, digital addiction, and harmful content, and combat human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and child labor.
On democracy and human rights, the party proposes updating and implementing the National Action Plan on Democracy and Human Rights through a participatory approach, making it a roadmap for ensuring the effective exercise of rights and freedoms.