Historic First: Woman Elected Leader of Moroccan Soulaliyate Community

Since the history of the Soulaliyate communities, never has a woman been chosen as the head. It is therefore a chance for Rabia Assoul, a sewing equipment merchant and mother of a child, to have won the title of naiba (representative) of the Soulaliyate community of Ouled Ahmed Souk Larbaa. It was on December 21, with 135 votes for and 99 against, for a participation rate estimated at 63.75% out of 371 members of the Soulaliyate communities registered on the voters’ list.

She told the Map that she was "surprised by this victory", because for her, this position has "always been the preserve of men". She recalled that before her historic election, "the woman was marginalized, without a voice, not even having the right to participate in the nomination or exploitation". It is the King’s speech and the laws provided for in the Constitution that have come to "support the right of the Soulaliya woman to exploitation on an equal footing with the man", she said.

In her capacity as the new representative of the Soulaliyate community of Ouled Ahmed, she intends to submit to the supervisory ministry some proposals including the organization of training for new representatives on community management, the creation of a toll-free number to consult the authority in charge of Soulaliyate affairs in case of emergency, the holding of an annual meeting of elected representatives of communities at the national level, and the generalization of this experience to all Soulaliyate communities in Morocco.

Ms. Assoul praised the role of the Association of Representatives of the Families of the Soulaliyate Community of Ouled Ahmed Souk Larbaa in the success of this community’s experience thanks to the "tireless work" aimed at uniting the members of the community, consolidating communication between them, creating an association grouping the community and establishing a forum to communicate with community members living outside the village or abroad, and organizing awareness campaigns on the rights of beneficiaries, especially women.

The new representative came to the head of the community with a well-defined program and a willingness to put everything back in its place. This is how she denounced the fact that only three or four people know the properties of the Soulaliyate community. She explained that a petition signed by 150 members of the community and submitted to the authorities in order to demand the change of the naib who had held this position for more than two decades, and who is no longer in the required conditions to exercise his functions. Several meetings were held without reaching an agreement, leading to the organization of elections for the first time in the history of the Soulaliyate community in Morocco, according to the same source.