By Youssef Sourgo
Morocco World News
Casablanca, May 18, 2013
The Moroccan TV channel 2M and the PJD seem to not get along well with each other lately.
Tensions between both sides have continued to escalate since April 17, when 2M broadcasted an episode of the controversial Moroccan TV Show “Moubachara Maakoum,” which was devoted to debating the government’s decision to reduce the investment budget to MAD 15 billion. More precisely, the cause of the ongoing hostilities was a 3-minute long report in this particular episode, in which Moroccan investors testified that Morocco is “heading to the abyss because of the arbitrary financial management exercised by the government of Abdelilah Benkirane.”
Not long after 2M aired this episode, Mr. El Haykar, a PJD member, alongside many PJD parliamentarians, accused 2M of being “a tool to destabilize the country.” He added that “2M occults the work of major parties and parasitizes governmental endeavors.” According to daily newspaper La Libération, Mr. Mustapha El Khalfi, the Minister of Communication, accused 2M of "undermining the economic security of the state" by airing this report.
Allegedly, the report has even prompted the Minister of Communication to open an investigation in this regard. Mr. El Khalfi has even called on the HAKA (the High Authority of Audiovisual Communication) to intervene.
In response to these allegations, 2M recently pointed to the HAKA’s figures, unveiled by Mr. El Khalfi himself not long ago, which demonstrate that 2M has rather been supportive of the PJD-led government by granting it the lion’s share of airtime, with a rate of 56.29 % of airtime.
By unveiling these figures, 2M effectively shed light on the discrepancies in the attitudes and rhetoric of the HAKA and the PJD-led government towards the Moroccan channel.
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