Rabat- Abdullah Bouanou, president of group of deputies of the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), accused three deputies from the opposition groups, without naming them or their political affiliations, of having received 20 million Dirhams last year from a tobacco company in exchange of using their influence to counter any increase in value-added tax on products sold by the company in Morocco.
Speaking during the plenary vote on the first part of the 2015 draft budget bill on Saturday, Bouanou's controversial remarks came as a reaction to the proposal of the opposition parties to increase the tax on filtered tobacco that smokers make themselves using cigarette tubes to 462 Dirhams per kilogram. This kind of tobacco is cheaper in the market than packed cigarettes.
Bouanou said that the three MP's from the opposition received bribes worth 20 million Dirhams while sitting in their villas in order "to defend an amendment in the 2014 Finance law that serves the interests of this company." He added the opposition "should harmonize their standpoints since it cannot defend a tobacco tax reduction last year while this year demands that it should be increased."
The opposition based its proposal on the fact that this kind of cigarettes is widespread among the youth and can pave the path to the consumption of drugs and other mind-altering substances. However, the proposal was rejected by 163 votes against only 89 who voted in favor.
Feeling compelled by Bouanou's comments, Abdullah El Bakkali from the Istiqlal party, an opposition party, asked the Ministry of Justice to open an investigation and to look into the comments he deemed "serious". He also accused Abdullah Bouanou of being part in the 'cover-up' of a one-year-old crime.
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