Key PJD Leaders Opt Out of Morocco’s September Elections, Raising Questions

For the upcoming electoral deadlines, some PJD heavyweights such as Abdelaziz Aftati, Abdelillah Benkirane and Abdelhak El Arabi have decided not to run.

Approached by Hespress, Mustapha Bougarn, a researcher on Islamist movements, said that the procedure for designating candidates is one of the causes of this defection. He highlights the highly contested party texts which stipulate that no member can run for office himself. The choice of representatives rests with the leaders. For this reason, the researcher rejects the thesis of renunciation.

In this regard, he takes the example of Amina Maelainine, who is one of the influential leaders within the PJD and who has accumulated significant political experience. She would not give up the elections if she had been designated, he assures.

As for knowing whether these party leaders are afraid of failure in the elections, the researcher estimated that this question is linked to the career path of each of the persons concerned and to their status within and outside the party.

He believes that for example, Abdelillah Benkirane’s refusal to run in the elections "has nothing to do with a renunciation or a fear of failure" but it is because he rejects El Othmani’s choices at the head of the PJD and the government, going so far as to describe him as the "shame of the party".

For his part, Abdelaziz Aftati, member of the general secretariat of the Islamist party, said that these absences are sometimes justified by the party’s desire to renew its skills. It is neither an exclusion, nor a marginalization or an omission of certain names for the candidacies in the next elections.

"As for me, I have decided to give up the elected councils since 2015 to fight against corruption and to devote myself entirely to those at the top," noting that "there are many skills within the party and proposals are under deliberation," said Aftati.

Some exclusions are motivated by assessments of the local section, knowing that the opinions of the local general assemblies of the party are often decisive when it comes to designating candidates for elections, the politician confided.