Benkirane: From clandestine work to the top of Morocco’s government

Hossam al-Haddad

Abdelilah Benkirane was the prime minister of Morocco and the secretary-general of the Moroccan Justice and Development Party from July 2008 to March 2017.

He became a member of the Moroccan House of Representatives for the northwestern city of Sale on November 14, 1997. He was re-elected two times in 2002 and 2007.

Soon after becoming the Moroccan prime minister, Benkirane became a leading member of the Justice and Development Party. On November 26, 2017, Benkirane was re-elected as the secretary-general of the party for the third time.

The Moroccan government which is headed by Saadeddine Othmani suffers a real crisis at present, amid growing public anger against the policies of the government.

Moroccan King Mohammed VI met Benkirane on November 29, 2011 and appointed him as the prime minister of Morocco. This came after his party won the parliamentary elections during what came to be known as the Arab Spring Revolutions.

Benkirane formed a second coalition government that won approval from the king on October 10, 2013.

It took Benkirane 143 days to form the government, a process made tough by the withdrawal of some parties, especially Istiqlal Party.

The second government contained 39 ministers.

Upbringing

Benkirane was born in al-Akari district in Moroccan capital Rabat. His father hailed from a Sufi family that worked in trade. Some of the family members studied jurisprudence.

In 1979, Benkirane was appointed as a professor of physics at the School Normale Supérieure in Rabat.

Political career

Benkirane was sympathetic with leftist organizations early on in his life. He was also close to the National Union of Popular Forces. He was also a frequent visitor of Istiqlal Party.

Shabiba Islamiya

Benkirane joined the clandestine violent movement Shabiba Islamiya in 1976 after the assassination of socialist journalist Omar Benjelloun. The movement was accused of carrying out Benjelloun’s assassination. This forced the founder of the movement Abdul Karim Mutee El Hamdaoui to escape Morocco for fear of arrest.