In Algiers, leading a delegation to the conference of Algerian
Islamist party Mouvement de la société pour la paix (MSP), Mohamed
Abbadi, Abdeslam Yassine's successor at the head of Al Adl wal Ihsane
(Justice and Good Works) movement made a strategic move
unlikely to win him much popularity with the Moroccan authorities.
Interviewed by the conservative Algerian daily Echourouk, he declared
that “power in Islam is based on shura (consultation) and not on
heredity … We suffer from the monarchy, and, progressively, if
God wishes, we will get rid of it and return to what the Qur'an says”.
Abbadi has already made remarks with this content and tone to
the media. The difference this time is that it was an Algerian
newspaper that published them under the title “We suffer from the
monarchy … and wish to see it disappear.”
Al Adl refuses to recognise the Moroccan sovereign's right to
the title 'Commander of the Believers', and in turn the Moroccan State
refuses to recognise Al Adl. Abbadi's line is that only by
strict respect of the principles which prevailed in the
earliest Islamic community can the lost power of the Muslim nation or
Umma be restored. (The restoration of lost Islamic glories is a
recurrent theme in Islamist discourse.) Although Abbadi advocates party
politics, his movement has shown no readiness to make concessions to
the Palace in order to move into political life. In the interview, he
declared: “We do not wish to get into a swamp from which we
would not be able to get out. Anyone who gets into such a sector, or rather marsh, is obliged to make concessions at the expense of their
Islamic principles. We are not prepared to do this” – unlike the ruling
Islamo-democrats of the PJD, he might have added. For the
record, on Saturday 4 May, Abderrezak Mokri was elected leader of the
MSP.
For more news and expert analysis about Morocco, please see Morocco Politics & Security.
© 2013 Menas Associates
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