Politics of Morocco take place in a framework of an official parliamentary constitutional monarchy,whereby the prime minister of Morocco is the head of government,and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament,the Assembly of Representatives of Morocco and the Assembly of Councillors. The Moroccan Constitution provides for a monarchy with a Parliament and an independent judiciary.
The 2003 Casablanca bombings,commonly known as May 16,were a series of coordinated suicide bombings on May 16,2003,in Casablanca,Morocco. That night,twelve suicide bombers loyal to Salafia Jihadia organization detonated a bombs hidden in their backpacks in the Casa de España restaurant,the Hotel Farah,the Jewish Alliance of Casablanca,and sites near the Belgian consulate and an old Jewish cemetery. The attacks were the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country's history,claiming the lives of forty-five people and injuring at least 100. Despite their deliberate targeting of Jews,none of the victims were Jews as the attack occurred during Shabbat.
The Justice and Development Party is a political party in Morocco that advocates for political Islam. It was the ruling party of Morocco from 2011 to 2021.
Mustafa is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad,and the name means "chosen,selected,appointed,preferred",used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Morocco face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents.
Saadeddine Othmani,sometimes translated as Saad Eddine el-Othmani,is a Moroccan politician. He served as the 16th prime minister of Morocco from 17 March 2017 to 7 October 2021. Previously he served as foreign minister from 2012 to 2013.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in Malaysia face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Sodomy is a crime in the country,with laws enforced arbitrarily. Extrajudicial murders of LGBT people have also occurred in the country. There are no Malaysian laws that protect the LGBT community against discrimination and hate crimes. As such,the LGBT demographic in the country are hard to ascertain due to widespread fears from being ostracised and prosecuted,including violence.
Abdelkader Belliraj is a Moroccan-Belgian citizen who was found guilty in 2009 of arms smuggling and planning terrorist attacks in Morocco.
The Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties,also referred to as Ettakatol or by its French acronym FDTL,is a social democratic political party in Tunisia. It was founded on 9 April 1994 and officially recognized on 25 October 2002. Its founder and Secretary-General is the radiologist Mustapha Ben Jafar.
The Ennahda Movement,also known as the Renaissance Party or simply known as Ennahda,is a self-defined Islamic democratic political party in Tunisia.
Early general elections were held in Morocco on 25 November 2011,brought forward from 2012 and then postponed from 7 October 2011.
Abdelilah Benkirane is a Moroccan politician who was Prime Minister of Morocco from November 2011 to March 2017. After having won a plurality of seats in the 2011 parliamentary election,his party,the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party formed a coalition with three parties that had been part of previous governments.
On 10 March 2012,Amina El Filali (1996–2012),a 16-year-old girl from Larache,Morocco,committed suicide by taking rat poison,after she was forced by her family to marry a man who had raped her when she was 15. According to Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code,the rapist was allowed to avoid prosecution by marrying his victim. This incident drew much attention to Moroccan law,and many people expressed a desire to have the law changed. Local human rights groups also called for the repeal of Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code,which de-criminalises a rape if the rapist later marries their victim. Two years after the suicide,the parliament decided to modify Article 475;it was edited in 2014.
Mustapha El Khalfi is a Moroccan politician of the Justice and Development Party. Since 3 January 2012,he holds the position of Minister of Communications and Spokesperson of the Government in Abdelilah Benkirane's government. Before this he was editor-in-chief of the Attajdid newspaper.
Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri is a Moroccan lawyer and politician of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM),and currently the mayor of Marrakesh as well as the Minister of National Planning,Urban Planning,Housing and Urban Policy.
Ḥassan al-Kettani is a Muslim scholar and former political prisoner from Morocco. Imprisoned for alleged connections to the 2003 Casablanca bombings,Kettani was pardoned by Mohammed VI eight years later after efforts by his lawyer and human rights groups,and the success of Islamists in Morocco's parliament. However many human rights groups have pointed at the fact that Shaykh Hasan was targeted due to the crackdown on Islamist scholars and activist,he was released in 2013 after years of torture and persecution.
Ali Anouzla is a Moroccan journalist,known for his critical articles of King Mohammed VI's rule. Since December 2010 he has been the editor-in-chief of the online media platform Lakome,which he co-founded along with Aboubakr Jamaï. Lakome was most notably behind the uncovering of the Daniel Galván scandal in which Mohammed VI was found to have pardoned,as a gesture "demonstrating good relations between him and King Juan Carlos I of Spain" a Spanish serial child rapist sentenced to 30 years in Morocco of which he spent only a year and a half. The scandal led to unprecedented spontaneous demonstrations against the Moroccan monarch in early August 2013. On 17 September 2013,Ali Anouzla was arrested in a raid against his home in Rabat,officially for having linked to an El Pais article which contained a video allegedly posted by AQIM and hosted on the website of the Spanish newspaper. He was later charged with "Knowingly providing material assistance to terrorists acts". Many observers saw this as a revenge for the Daniel Scandal episode.
The Daniel Galván scandal was a political scandal in which Mohammed VI,the King of Morocco,issued a pardon for a Spanish convicted serial child-rapist named Daniel Galván. The Spanish citizen was serving a 30 years prison sentence. He was arrested in Morocco in late 2011,for having raped at least 11 Moroccan children in Kenitra—a city he had been living in since 2004. The pardon came some 18 months after his incarceration as part of a diplomatic gesture from Mohammed VI to Spain,on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of his enthronement. The pardon sparked unprecedented popular outrage in Morocco where several protests were held denouncing the monarch's decision. This prompted Mohammed VI to first issue a communiquéin which he denied being "aware of the gravity of the crimes committed by Daniel Galvan",then to "cancel" his pardon but only after the Spanish citizen had already left the country several days before on an expired passport—with the knowledge of Moroccan authorities. It was revealed later that this was not the first time Mohammed VI had pardoned a convicted foreign paedophile,having pardoned HervéLe Gloannec,a French citizen convicted of child rape and child pornography in 2006.
General elections were held in Morocco on 7 October 2016. The ruling Justice and Development Party remained the largest party,winning 125 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives,a gain of 18 seats compared to the 2011 elections.
