Morocco Suspends Mosque Officials for Political Campaigning Ahead of Elections

This decision was made after the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs received a report stating that an imam and two muezzins working in the Lalla Maïmouna mosques (Kénitra province) called on the faithful to vote for the Islamist candidates of the Party of Justice and Development (PJD), reports Al Akhbar. This is a blatant violation of the correspondence that the ministry sent to the provincial and regional delegates of the department. In this correspondence, Ahmed Taoufiq had invited the religious staff - 50,000 imams, preachers and other employees in the sector - to show neutrality and impartiality in the upcoming elections.

These suspensions have somewhat slowed the momentum of some MUR imams. Others, on the other hand, are still campaigning for the candidates of the Islamist party. Some have even defended the PJD minister and mayor of Kénitra. During last Friday’s sermon in Kénitra, they denied any involvement in the videos circulating on social media in which he is strongly attacked.