Morocco's ministers in verbal spat

Sources close to the Moroccan government, have confirmed that the interior minister, Mohand Leanser, has been angry with the individual comments of some ministers in the government, while the leaders of the ruling coalition parties have held a meeting in order to clear the atmosphere after some recent controversies inside the government. The interior minister's reported anger came on the back of  comments made by his fellow minister of justice, Mostafa al-Romaid, who has condemned the use of violence by security forces against protesters who were holding a sit-in in front of his ministry. al-Romaid, who came out of his office and joined the protesters, expressed his apologies to them saying he would demand an investigation into what happened, promising that it "would not be repeated". Meanwhile, the Moroccan PM and General Secretary of Justice and Development Party (PJD), Abdelelah Benkiran has held a meeting with the leaders of his partners in the ruling coalition, in order to reach a settlement concernin the controversies. The meeting was attended by the General Secretary of the Independence Party, Abbas al-Fassi, and the General Secretary of the Public Movement Party, Mahand Leanser, and the General Secretary of the Progress and Socialism Party (PPS), Nabil Ben Abdullah. The (PJD) was a target for some offensive statements from his allies in the ruling coalition, particulary from the Independence Party. One of its notable figures, Hamid Shebat, the Mayor of Fas, stated in an interview with the Al-Massaa newspaper that "issuing a list of donations given to some national figures such as sporting figures  and to the poor and older citizens in Morocco, is "just a deception to improve the government's image" adding that these donations are actually given by the Royal Family. Shebat went on  to say that addressing financial corruption should start by dealing with the big institutions naming Moroccan Royal Airlines, and the National Office for Vocational Qualification, "instead of searching the past", referring to the government's attention to the cases of sand quarries and ocean fishing. Shebat accused some of the (PJD) ministers of having close ties with those named in corruption cases, naming the  higher education minister, Lahsan al-Dawoudi, who, he claimed,  signed an agreement with Idrees Benhima, who was described earlier by (PJD) members as  "the godfather of corruption in Morocco" On the other hand, the member of the Socialist Union's political bureau, Idrees Lashkor, has issued stern comments against the (PJD), warning of "a coup against freedom and democracy in the name of religion", Lashkor also compared the attainment of power by the Arab Islamists after the Arab Spring to that of the Nazis and Fascists in Europe after the First World War.