RABAT, 6 September 2007 — Opposition Islamists could emerge as the largest single party in Moroccan parliamentary polls tomorrow, helped by the support of poor voters disenchanted with the 50-year rule of a modernizing elite.
But the liberal establishment is unlikely to take fright at the development, seeing the moderate Islamists of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) as a religious bulwark against jihadists vowing attacks against “infidels” and their allies.
Morocco and neighboring Algeria have been hit by suicide bombings this year, stirring US fears that Islamist armed groups are planning coordinated attacks throughout the oil— and gas-exporting Maghreb region on Europe’s southern flank.
Moroccans know that real power in the North African country of 30 million will remain with King Mohammed, who combines roles as executive head of state, military chief and religious leader.
“A lot can be done in the fight against corruption, social inequality, to reform our justice and teaching,” PJD leader Saad Eddine Othmani told Reuters.
He said the PJD would not repeat the experience of other former opposition parties brought into a ruling elite many voters see as aloof and unresponsive to the needs of the poor.
Even if the PJD makes dramatic gains the king is unlikely to reward it with the prime minister’s job, a move that would create the first freely elected Islamist-led administration in an independent Arab country.
But the party could be rewarded with its first ever ministerial posts, a notable advance for Islamists in the pro-free market but poverty-stricken country long seen as the West’s closest ally in North Africa.
