Corruption, misconduct and bribery: PAM's internal turmoil

The recent suspension of Salah Eddine Abou Ghali, once part of the party’s tripartite leadership, has sparked significant debate within political circles.

This incident adds to a series of ongoing crises within the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), where each resolved conflict seems to give rise to another, exposing deeper internal struggles.

Questions about the motivations behind the decision have led many to speculate about underlying issues within the party’s leadership. Here is an explainer on what happened:

On Tuesday, news broke of Abou Ghali’s party membership suspension, with the decision being framed as an ethical issue.

On Wednesday, PAM held a press conference and disclosed that the suspension stems from commercial complaints filed against Abou Ghali by fellow party members. These complaints “allege serious misconduct, including suspicions of fraud, deception, and breach of trust.”

In this regard, Mehdi Bensaid, the official spokesperson for the PAM stated that “the party has received three complaints from party members and another from a media company regarding an alleged bribery attempt by the party member whose membership has been suspended.”

Bensaid added that “some of these complaints involve criminal acts if legal procedures are followed, which could tarnish the party’s image.”

He explained that “PAM attempted to resolve the issues related to these complaints internally, by holding a series of meetings with the parties concerned; however, all attempts failed, which led to the decision to suspend Abou Ghali’s membership within the political bureau and refer his case to the ethics committee for consideration.”

The party previously stressed that “these violations included in their organizational report are unrelated to any financial matters involving public funds.”

In response, Abou Ghali expressed shock and disbelief at the suspension of his membership, characterizing it as an “authoritarian and despotic act” by Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, a prominent figure in the PAM’s general secretariat and the Minister of Urban Planning.

In a statement, Abou Ghali denounced Mansouri’s management style, accusing her of treating the party as her personal fiefdom. He revealed that he had been summoned to the party headquarters just an hour before the scheduled meeting, via a text message from Mansouri.

Mansouri informed him that she had heard about a business disagreement between him and another party member. When he refused to follow her orders, she demanded his resignation, arguing that the violations were purely commercial and unrelated to the party.

“I rejected her demand outright, stating that personal business matters are unrelated to party business or public service. She then threatened to have me suspended at the upcoming political bureau meeting,”  recounted Abou Ghali.

He clarified that the business dispute in question relates to the sale of a family property. He also stated that if the other party feels wronged, they have every right to seek legal recourse through the courts. He criticized Mansouri’s involvement in this personal issue, calling it an inappropriate intrusion into party business.