Pjd’s El Othamni on Covid-19 managements, Algeria relations as electoral campaign kicks off

Head of government Saad Eddine El Othamni said today his government “managed to save 70 percent of the jobs that would have been lost because of Covid-19,”as the electoral campaign begins with political parties across the country rallying for the September 8 elections.

Speaking at ‘ the road to the elections of 2021’ program launched by the Hespress to follow the electoral campaign, the secretary general of the Justice and Development Party (PJD),  said at least a thousand measures across different fields have been taken to mitigate the economic crisis driven by Covid-19 since it hit the country.

He spoke about the diplomatic strain with neighboring Algeria, few weeks before his government leaves office, saying Morocco had expected Algera to react openly to recent calls made by King Mohammed VI to appease the tensions between the two states.

“I was surprised by the reaction of the Algerian government (…) especially since this reaction took place following the hand extended by the King for the third time,” he said.

He said comments made by the permanent Moroccan ambassador to the United Nations Omar Hilale, on self-determination of the Algerian Kabyle were a ‘reaction’ and not a position of the state. He said he hoped “this difficult stage between our two countries will be overcome, relations will return to normal and better, and there will be a common will to build the Maghreb Union and overcome the current situation.”