Topic: Justice and Development party (Morocco)

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The village of Tikht saw most of its homes flattened in Morocco's earthquake (image: Fethi Belaid/AFP)

Morocco earthquake

'Finished here' – a village vanishes

It was delicate work for the searchers to remove the woman's body from the rubble of a village that effectively ceased to exist in Morocco's deadliest earthquake in over six decadesMore

Snow in Moroccoʹs Atlas mountains: Calling the King to accountSocial unrest in the Arab world: Guilty of gross negligenceArab states in crisis: In search of a miracle cure
King Mohammed VI of Morocco (image: FADEL SENNA / AFP/File)

Morocco

Mohammed VI turns 60: Diplomacy a priority as inequalities persist

Morocco's King Mohammed VI is set to celebrate his 60th birthday on 21 August away from the public eye, as challenges abound almost a quarter century after he ascended the throneMore

Morocco and Spain: What price Madrid and Rabat's "historic" reconciliation?Women's rights in Morocco: Gender equality on paper onlyMoroccan thinker Hassan Aourid: Democracy cannot be stopped
Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes on challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Turkey's second round run-off (image: Umit Turhan Coskun/NurPhoto/picture alliance)

Turkey election run-off

Too much politics of fear from Kilicdaroglu?

Turkey's presidential run-off between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kemal Kilicdaroglu takes place on 28 May. Why were so many surprised by the initial outcome? And why the opposition's sudden political shift to the right? Political scientist Berk Esen talks to Ceyda NurtschMore

Turkey elections – the second round: Why Erdogan will winTurkish elections: Can Turkey's Gen Z tip the scales?Turkish opposition: Courting Turkey’s disenchanted electorate
80-year-old president of the Rabat Bar Association and former human rights minister, Mohamed Ziane (source: Twitter)

Human rights deteriorating in Morocco

Rabat's defamation drive

Morocco's regime continues to silence voices through censorship and arrest, apparently feeling vulnerable in the face of widespread popular criticism. Commentary by Abdellatif El HamamouchiMore

Growing repression in Morocco: Creating an atmosphere of fearMorocco's billionaire PM: Business elite stifles politicsMorocco and the return of autocracy: Playing with fire
Aziz Akhannouch, head of the Moroccan government (source: YouTube)

Morocco’s Akhannouch government

Business logic and politics don’t mix

Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch’s first anniversary in office in early October was remarkable for its unparalleled calm and serenity. The press dropped no comments, either on the administration’s performance or on what the year had brought in the way of challenges. By Mohamed TaifouriMore

Morocco's billionaire PM: Business elite stifles politicsGrowing repression in Morocco: Creating an atmosphere of fearMorocco's Islamist Justice and Development Party: A delicate balancing act
Students at the State School of Journalism ISIC in Rabat, Morocco, 31.10.2011 (photo: Thomas Koehler/ picture alliance/photothek)

Standard Arabic, Darija, French or English?

Morocco – a linguistic cold war

A conflict rooted in identity is currently gaining traction in Morocco. It began with demands to relieve the "burden" of Fusha (classical Arabic) by implementing a linguistic 'shift', thus allowing the use of Darija (Moroccan dialect) in education and teaching. But this approach has backfired massively on its proponents. Commentary by Mohamed TaifouriMore

Moroccan school curricula: French, Arabic, Moroccan, Amazigh?Morocco′s Amazigh: The long road to recognitionConstitutional reform in Morocco: I am the reform!
Archive photo: A demonstrator in Tunis shows his support for Moroccan journalists (photo: picture-alliance)

Growing repression in Morocco

Creating an atmosphere of fear

Following a crackdown on the independent press in Morocco, human rights activists face increased repression and extended prison sentences. By Abdellatif El HamamouchiMore

Qantara dossier: Freedom of the press War in Yemen: Death to journalistsImran Khan's democracy and press freedom: Pakistani military keeps journalists on a tight leashThe Turkish state and the Kurdish question: Turkey – a battle of narratives
Algeria decided to sever relations with its neighbour Morocco on 24 August 2021, accusing Rabat of having "hostile tendencies" towards it (photo: picture-alliance)

Morocco and Algeria

A rivalry stretching back decades

Algeria's decision to unilaterally sever diplomatic ties with Morocco in August 2021 – days after the presidency announced in a statement their relations would be reviewed – was all but surprising. The hostility and rivalry between the two neighbouring countries go back years. By Ilham RachidiMore

Western Sahara: Is a gas crisis with Algeria on the horizon for Spain?Western Sahara conflict: "One day we will be free"Qantara photo essay: The conflict in Western Sahara – The eternal wait
Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez on a two-day visit to Morocco on 07.4.2022 (photo: Moroccan Royal Palace/AP Photo/picture alliance)

Morocco and Spain

What price Madrid and Rabat's "historic" reconciliation?

Since Spain abandoned its traditional neutrality towards the conflict in Western Sahara, Morocco has announced a "new phase" in relations between the two countries. But what is the price of Spain's support for autonomy in the Sahara? Mohamed Taifouri analyses the situation for QantaraMore

Relations between the EU and Morocco: The stability mythThe rise of populists in Moroccan politics: Jokes, clamour, jesters and trouble-makingMorocco's Islamist Justice and Development Party: A delicate balancing actCrisis between Morocco and Germany: Western Sahara, source of strife among would-be partners
Morocco's new prime minister Aziz Akhannouch presenting his government team. Proximity to the royal family has helped Akhannouch become one of Morocco's richest men (photo: Xinhua News Agency / picture alliance)

Morocco's billionaire PM

Business elite stifles politics

Led by billionaire Aziz Akhannouch, Morocco's new government – elected in September 2021 – has adopted a business mindset. Faced with little parliamentary opposition, the administration also has little to fear from critical media, the last independent journalists having been consigned to jail. Commentary by Mohamed TaifouriMore

Morocco's pre-election crisis of confidence: "People no longer trust us!"COVID-19 fallout in Morocco: Tangiers' economic boom – few winners and many losersAl Boraq, M6 and neo-liberalism: Morocco's fast-track development programme bypasses manyMohammed VI and the Arab Spring: What happened to Morocco's 2011 constitution?
Moroccan King Mohammed VI announced constitutional reforms on 9 March 2011 in response to the mass protests in the wake of the Arab Spring (photo: picture alliance/ dpa)

Mohammed VI and the Arab Spring

What happened to Morocco's 2011 constitution?

Morocco's 2011 Arab Spring constitution has been hijacked by the deep state, which is asserting its own authoritarian interpretation and turning the clock back decades. Analysis by Mohamed TaifouriMore

Morocco's pre-election crisis of confidence: "People no longer trust us!"Morocco and the return of autocracy: Playing with fireInterview with the Moroccan thinker Hassan Aourid: Democracy cannot be stoppedCOVID-19 fallout in Morocco: Tangiers' economic boom – few winners and many losers
Man cast his ballot of rparliamentary elections at a polling station in Rabat (photo: Abdeljalil Bounhar/AP/picture-alliance)

Mohammed VI's coefficient swindle

Moroccan elections will be about maths, not change

The country's national election on 8 September will likely bring new government. But neither experts nor locals expect it to bring long-promised change, writes Cathrin SchaerMore

Morocco's pre-election crisis of confidence: "People no longer trust us!"Reform in Morocco: Sapping the political willMorocco's monarchy and the conflict with the PJD: All power to the palaceDemocracy and human rights: Morocco's police state makes a comebackDigitalisation and the coronavirus in Morocco: From care to control?
Moroccan King Mohammed VI (photo: picture alliance/dpa/TASS/A. Sherbak)

Morocco's pre-election crisis of confidence

"People no longer trust us!"

In Morocco, years of patronage politics and favouritism have led to trust dwindling in government, parliament and the country's institutions. Neo-liberal policy-making favours enrichment and corruption, while the state holds a protective hand over the profiteers. Commentary by Moroccan analyst Ali AnouzlaMore

Morocco's monarchy and the conflict with the PJD: All power to the palaceAl Boraq, M6 and neo-liberalism: Morocco's fast-track development programme bypasses manyMorocco's social gulf: The many faces of povertyQantara dossier: Morocco
Hoping to make a legal profit: a Moroccan farmer packages cannabis seeds (photo: Fadel Senna/Getty Images/AFP)

Maghreb and the EU

Will medicinal cannabis become Morocco's no.1 export?

A law is currently being debated in Morocco that would legalise the cultivation and export of medicinal cannabis. For many small farmers, this would bring considerable advantages. But the bill is controversial. By Cathrin SchaerMore

Attempts to decriminalise hashish in the Arab world: To legalise or not to legaliseAfghanistan's opium trade: A nice little earner – for everyoneDrug dealing in Lebanon: At home with a drug baron
Moroccan political scientist Hassan Aourid (photo: private)

Interview with the Moroccan thinker Hassan Aourid

Democracy cannot be stopped

Hassan Aourid is one of the most important political and intellectual figures in Morocco. In interview with Ismail Azzam for Qantara, Aourid outlines his vision of the decline of political Islam and the future of democracy and human rights in the MaghrebMore

Indigenous rights in the Maghreb: An uphill struggle for Tunisiaʹs AmazighMorocco′s Amazigh: The long road to recognitionUnrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle
Saad Eddine El-Othmani, Secretary General of Moroccoʹs PJD (photo: Getty Images/AFP/F. Senna)

Maghreb

Moroccoʹs PJD on course to self-destruct

By drowning the PJD in procedures and decisions, Moroccoʹs ruling elite is using the same approach it applied to cripple another former coalition partner, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces. Does this gradual assimilation of the PJD into the establishment signal the end of the Islamistsʹ participation in the democratic process? By Mohamed TaifouriMore

Morocco's power struggle: Loyalty over competenceMorocco's monarchy and the conflict with the PJD: All power to the palaceMoroccoʹs sentencing of Nasser Zefzafi: When civil liberties contract

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