Khadija Kadouri – Trainee Journalist
The public authorities in Rabat prevented the national march of justice sector employees, which was scheduled to head on Wednesday from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to demand the issuance of the basic system for court clerks, which was agreed upon with the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Wahbi.
In this context, Abdel Latif Asrar, a member of the National Bureau of the Democratic Union of Justice, said in a statement to “TelQuel Arabi”, “We, as a union, today express our strong condemnation of this ban, and as a message for this ban, it is considered a victory for the Democratic Union of Justice.” He added that “this decision takes us back, as we are a citizen and responsible union and we have preserved social peace for years.”
Asrar explained that “the march’s decision is to convey the voice to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance,” stressing that the issue of “equality must be between sectors. A set of basic regulations cannot be passed while the justice sector, whose work is considered essential within the justice system, remains.”
The unionist also referred to “a long path of protests that began almost two years ago, where the dialogue did not achieve any tangible progress, despite the presentation of a set of legitimate demands after 13 years in which there was no amendment to the basic system. We decided, after much patience and to preserve social peace within the sector, to begin a series of struggles within the sector.”
Asrar added, “Today, we notice that the paralysis that has affected the courts is being suffered by the litigant and the lawyer, and the court’s arteries are stopping, and officials at the government level are aware of these matters.”
He stressed that “today we cannot bear a set of serious and dangerous tasks that involve criminal and professional responsibilities.”
The spokesman revealed that “after the march was banned, a decision was taken yesterday to turn it into a stand in front of the Ministry of Justice. A meeting will be held at the end of this week to assess the extent to which the concerned parties have responded to the demands and the facts on the ground. If the proposal related to the basic system submitted does not meet the aspirations, then there will certainly be an escalation and struggle programs will be outlined that will increase the tension and threaten social peace within the sector, and this is not in the interest of the parties running the sector.”
He concluded by saying, “These demands must be responded to immediately, in order to preserve social peace and the rights of the litigant.”
For his part, Idriss Benkhali, a member of the National Bureau of the Democratic Union of Justice and a member of the Media Committee, confirmed that “in principle, we consider that a march, a sit-in, or any form of protest are tools and means, and for us they are not an end in themselves. We were informed of the ban decision, and it was possible that the sit-in would not have taken place either, but after our discussions within the National Bureau, we decided to take advantage of the ban decision and turned the march into a sit-in.”
The unionist continued, “If this ban had been in place 10 years ago or more, it would have had a greater impact than it does today, but today the media is among the weapons available.”
The same spokesman said, “For us, the justification provided by the authorities is unacceptable, as they said, ‘We are not advocates of chaos,’ but rather we are a responsible institution, and therefore if we hold the march, it will be in an atmosphere of discipline and responsibility.”
Idriss Benkhali said, “Among the steps that will be taken is that we will give two days to the ministry and through it to the government. If we are invited to dialogue and any offer is presented to us, we will study it and provide an answer to the government through the Ministry of Justice.”
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