Morocco’s largest Islamist movement announces election boycott

Morocco’s largest Islamist movement, Al Adl Wal Ihsan (Justice and Spirituality), has decided to boycott legislative elections scheduled to take place on September 23, calling on citizens not to participate.

The movement announced on Wednesday that its decision to boycott the upcoming legislative elections was prompted by the absence of “conditions for free and fair political competition.”

It said that elections in Morocco “have failed to move the country toward a horizon of democracy, freedom and justice.”

The movement also said that it had decided on the boycott due to “authoritarianism and corruption,” which it said had led to widespread popular disengagement from politics.

 It also cited a “lack of seriousness” in a political system in which elected institutions do not possess genuine political decision-making power.

In a statement, the movement also cited “restriction of freedoms” as well as the continued detention and prosecution of opponents and activists.

These circumstances, it said, do not provide the conditions necessary for “meaningful political participation.”

At the same time, the movement stressed that its boycott does not mean withdrawing from public affairs. It reaffirmed its commitment to what it called the “continued struggle for freedom, dignity and good governance.”

It concluded by emphasizing that “any serious political reform requires establishing freedom and elected institutions with genuine powers.”

Unlike the Justice and Development Party (PJD), another Islamist movement which has previously led the Moroccan government, Al Adl Wal Ihsan has remained committed to opposition, refusing to participate in the country’s elections and political process.

It has never been legalised as a party but has so far been tolerated by Moroccan authorities.

The movement’s statement came two days after an appeal by the Unification and Reform Movement, the religious outreach arm of the PJD, calling for “active, positive and responsible” participation in the elections.

In contrast to Adl wal Ihsan, it said that the elections represented an important opportunity to consolidate democracy, elect new leaders and restore confidence in institutions.

Commenting on Al-Adl wal Ihsan’s decision to boycott the upcoming elections, political sociologist Abdel Moneim Al-Kazzan told The New Arab that the decision “was expected, given that the movement has never previously announced its participation in any elections.”

He described the movement’s rejection of electoral participation as a “structurally closed position,” based on the use of religion and “traditional charismatic legitimacy,” which forms part of the basis of Morocco’s political system.

However, Al-Kazzan added that the notable element of the announcement was that Adl wal Ihsan had “begun adopting concepts drawn from the philosophy of the Enlightenment and human rights” – such as the separation of powers and fair competition – and is using a modernist framework instead of talking about concepts like “coercive rule” and “hereditary monarchy,” which were central to the approach of its late spiritual leader, Abdessalam Yassine, who died in 2012.

He said however that, “despite the modernist concepts, this announcement remains a strategic confirmation that the movement will not fall into the trap of granting ‘legitimacy’ to what it regards as corruption and a situation in which the conditions for ‘genuine consultation’ do not exist.”

He also argued that the boycott “strengthens the cohesion of what remains of the movement” and its solidarity as a “community and fellowship.”

Moroccans are due to go to the polls on September 23 to choose members of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament.

However, the power of parliament and government in Morocco is limited with King Mohammed VI retaining significant executive power despite reforms undertaken after the Arab Spring broke out in 2011.