Increase in gas prices: opposition attacks government

This is an opportunity that the parliamentary opposition could not miss. The government’s decision to increase the price of butane gas earned it a first round of attacks from the PSU and the PJD through its union arm, the UNTM.

For the MP and deputy general secretary of the PSU, Nabila Mounib, quoted by the daily Annahar Al Maghrebia in its weekend edition of May 25 and 26, this increase “will primarily affect the poor social classes“. For her, an increase of ten dirhams “will certainly not be noted by the wealthy social classes“. This decision will especially impact poor people and small farmers who use gas for irrigation. This will lead, for the latter, to an increase in the costs of subsistence agriculture.

According to the far-left MP, the agricultural and industrial sectors demand that the public authorities provide them with energy security. Which is not the case today since the Kingdom still depends on imports to cover 85% of its needs in this area.

Certainly, she suggests, Morocco has chosen renewable energies, but they are not sufficient to guarantee its energy autonomy. For the deputy general secretary of the PSU, the solution lies in the reopening of Samir. But this is another story.

The second round of criticism comes from the UNTM, the union arm of the PJD. The union denounced this increase, as well as all the repercussions that will result from it. This augmentation “will have dangerous effects on the daily lives of citizens», Underlines the union.

Forgetting that this increase is the practical translation of the reform of the Compensation Fund initiated by the first PJD government, the Islamist union believes that this increase undermines the purchasing power of citizens.

The trade union center thus asked the government “to assume full responsibility for the collapse of the purchasing power of the working classes“. And this, while encouraging him to “make urgent decisions, highlighting the need to put an end to the deterioration of the social situation“. Which situation, underlines the union cited by the daily, “has been aggravated by its policies favoring profit and wild capitalism which feeds on speculation and price anarchy“.

Also, the union arm of the PJD called on the government to fundamentally review its social policy and find real solutions to the deterioration of the social situation, while opening a multi-party national dialogue.

That said, the government’s decision which came into force last Monday has not yet been well explained to citizens, according to the butane gas distributors. Social networks have, in fact, reported increases of up to 17 dirhams for the 12 kg cylinder while the press release issued by the government only speaks of ten dirhams.

According to the daily, which always cites distributor representatives, this price difference is entirely logical. What the government has not explained enough is that the price of butane gas is not unified across the country. There are three zones. In the first, the price is set at 50 dirhams, in zone 2, it is 53 dirhams while in the third zone, it is 57 dirhams.