Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- Hamid Chabat, the Secretary General of the Istiqlal Party, said in the wake of “La MAP Forum” that he “is ready to stand before any judge to defend himself” against his recent statement regarding what is being described in Morocco as the “Benkhaldoune-Choubani Love Story,” a case which received a lot of media attention in the country and which involves two ministers of the current government coalition, both belonging to the PJD, dubbed an Islamist party.
Moroccan Minister Habib Choubani already hinted out he is willing to lodge a complaint against Chabat after this latter described him as “an Islamist womanizer minister that forced another minister to divorce from her husband in her 50′s, after 30 years of marriage, and despite having 4 kids and being a grandma.”
During the “MAP Forum, ” Hamid Chabat said he has “all the right to criticize both ministers, since they are public personalities,” further stressing that “their [Choubani and Benkhaldoune] private life is no more private since they stepped in the public sphere.”
“I am only doing my job as a member of the opposition,” Chabat added.
“This goes by exposing scandals involving members of the government, especially ethical ones,” Chabat said.
It is worth reminding that Hamid Chabat was criticized harshly for his statement from Moroccans from all the different political spectra. This goes without saying that even various notorious members of the opposition itself, which Chabat belongs to, lauded him of critics. Hasna Abou Zaid, who belongs to the USFP, said in a statement to Hespress that she condemns Chabat’s statement and stands in full support with Benkhaldoune, further stressing that Chabat was in clear violation of the ethics of Islam and the traditions of the Moroccan people when criticizing both ministers.
Benkhaldoune has lauded Chabat of critics in a Facebook post and stressed that “no third party should poke its nose in my divorce, which is a personal choice, nothing to do with my ministerial duties.”
The Moroccan Times.
