- Title: MOROCCO: Abdelilah Benkirane appointed new Moroccan Prime Minister
- Date: 30th November 2011
- Summary: ABDELILAH BENKIRANE AT HIS PARTY HEADQUARTERS SURROUNDED BY CAMERAMEN ABDELILAH BENKIRANE HOLDING A BABY, KISSING HIM AND GIVING HIM BACK TO HIS MOTHER VARIOUS OF THE NEWS CONFERENCE AT PJD OFFICE AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF FINAL RESULTS OF THE ELECTION
- Embargoed: 15th December 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Morocco, Morocco
- Country: Morocco
- Topics: Domestic Politics,People
- Reuters ID: LVA4HN7E5ZRV7KX2Z84Q2CS38R82
- Story Text: Abdelilah Benkirane of the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) was on Tuesday (November 29) appointed the new prime minister of Morocco by King Mohammed.
The PJD won 27 percent of seats in the 395-member parliament, paving the way for its maiden role in government after the king advanced the election by close to a year to prevent a spillover into Morocco of Arab Spring uprisings.
After the final election results were announced over the weekend , Benkirane told Reuters in an exclusive interview at his home that his party was ready to serve the Moroccan people.
"Today, we should be ready to serve our citizens. It is thanks to the citizens that we were elected to the parliament and it is also thanks to him that we won the number of seats that will allow us to make the government. So, it is the citizen who is now primordial. We should give him all his rights and the state's officials should realise that they are here to serve him."
Benkirane -- who is 57 years old -- was aligned with leftist groups before he joined the Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO) in 1976. When the organisation advocated violence against the state, Benkirane quit. He was a founding member of the moderate Islamic Group Organisation, of which he became leader in 1986.
He remained leader of the group, which underwent several name changes, until 1996, by which time it had been given its current name. He became leader of the group once again in 2008 when he was elected PJD's secretary-general at the sixth national congress of the party in Rabat.
A former physics teacher, Benkirane is widely seen as a moderate Islamist and a staunch defender of the monarchy. When away from the public gaze, Benkirane spends his time in with his family at his old villa in central Rabat where he lives with his mother and wife Nabila. During the weekend, the villa is a meeting point for his in-laws, nephews and nieces.
Morocco has not had a revolution of the kind seen elsewhere in the region. But King Mohammed has pushed through limited reforms to contain what has become regular protests demanding a British or Spanish-style constitutional monarchy.
Benkirane said he was ready to hold talks with the protesters, whose campaign is called the "February 20 movement".
"The February 20 Movement is a social movement that was set up to bring in changes and these changes took place. Logically, we could say that there are no reasons that it should carry on the same way. If I am nominated as the head of the government, I am ready to have a dialogue with the February 20 Movement. We need to know exactly what this movement wants. If their demands are reasonable, then we will agree to them and this is natural. But if these demands are not clear or logical, then we will have discussions with them," he said.
The PJD leader said there would be no change in the country's foreign policy.
"I am convinced that Morocco is an ally of the West. This alliance is historical and based on heavy interests. It is unthinkable to dismantle it. The Moroccan relationships with France, Spain, Great Britain and the United States will continue and we are not thinking of changing anything in this thinking."
The party, whose deceased founder was a physician of King Mohammed's grandfather, is loyal to the monarchy and backs its role as the supreme religious authority in the country.
"As far as individual liberties are concerned, it is an internal matter between Moroccans that is regulated by law. The religious side is the King's prerogative, not of the head of the government. We should not forget that we are in a monarchy and that the head of the state is the King and not the prime minister who has clear executive powers," Benkirane said.
PJD, which will get its first chance to head a coalition government, has said it will promote Islamic finance but steer clear of imposing a strict moral code on a country that depends on tourism.
Benkirane enjoys popularity among his party's leaders as well as its rank and file. He is said to be down-to-earth and accessible to everyone. He is known for his sense of humour -- a quality not very common among politicians of Islamic parties who often like to portray themselves as austere and serious.
One PJD leader said Benkirane encouraged other Islamic movements to join politics.
"We should not forget that it is he who convinced many Islamic movements to join politics, have dialogue with rulers and join the democratic process," said Abdelaziz Rabbah, a PJD leader.
The moderate Islamists' strong showing came on the back of its promises for greater democracy, less corruption and to tackle acute social inequalities by raising minimum wages and reforming education. Youth unemployment is at 31 percent and nearly a quarter of the 33 million population live in severe poverty. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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