‘Better than Illegitimate Pregnancies’: PJD’s Ramid criticizes reforms on underage marriage

Sunday 19 January 2025 - 14:30

By: Dakir Madiha

‘Better than Illegitimate Pregnancies’: PJD’s Ramid criticizes reforms on underage marriage

The party is critical of the changes to the family code, saying the government should rather focus on issues like spinsterhood, divorce, and declining fertility rates.

Mustapha Ramid, a member of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), has sharply criticized the government’s approach to the proposed reforms for the Family Code, known as Moudawana.

Ramid, who also served as a justice minister, made his remarks this week as part of his participation in the kick-off of the 2025 academic season at the Moroccan Center for Contemporary Studies and Research.

During his speech, he echoed the same sentiment as the PJD – particularly its prominent figure, Abdelilah Benkirane.

In the speech, Ramid recalled King Mohammed VI’s historic statement in which he backed Islamic law or Sharia, by saying, “I do not make the unlawful lawful for the lawful unlawful.”

Ramid said that the statement reflected the monarch’s commitment to the religious foundations of the family, criticizing the government’s presentation of the announced amendments to the family code.

For Ramid, the government’s approach diverges from this commitment, and is “weak, confused, and theatrical.”

He argued that Minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi’s handling of the proposed amendments has “harmed them, leading public opinion to reject the proposed changes.”

For Ramid, the family reform “cannot be achieved solely through legislation,” describing this approach as “unrealistic” and “unacceptable.”

He also cited the “necessity of marrying off children who are deeply attached,” arguing that marriage is “preferable to illicit relations.”

In this context, Ramid argued that pregnancy at a young age is better than an “out of wedlock pregnancy,” pointing out that Islamic values are enshrined in the Constitution.

PJD has been vocally against the new amendments, especially those related to underage marriage and the status of wives in the household.

In December of last year, Morocco’s religious authorities approved the proposed amendments to the family code, including granting legal guardianship of children to mothers with custody and recognizing the contributions of a wife’s domestic work as part of the wealth and property accumulated during the marriage.

Under the reforms, legal guardianship of children will also be shared between parents during and after marriage, and divorced mothers can retain custody of their children even if they decide to remarry.

The proposed amendments were met with frustration among PJD members, especially from its prominent figure.

Benkirane questioned “how one could evaluate a woman’s work within the home,” adding that the “shared financial responsibility” proposal is a “Western concept” and “foreign to Moroccan society.”

Benkirane also took issue with Ouahbi’s remarks regarding the proposed amendments.

“The minister’s remarks about complicating legal procedures for marriages of girls under 18 and declaring this without any shame is atrocious,” the PJD website quoted Benkirane.

The PJD figure has also recently called on Ouahbi to address what he described as “real problems of society” like spinsterhood, divorce and declining fertility rates.