Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani, has been elected as the new Secretary General of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) after the National Council refused to allow Abdelilah Benkirane to run for the post for a third time. The decision that took place on Sunday came as El Othmani excluded from the party's General Secretariat the supporters of the former head of the government. To get a closer look at this change, Yabiladi interviewed Abdelrrahim El Allam, a professor of political sciences at the University of Cadi Ayyad in Marrakech. How do you expect the future of the Justice and Development Party to look like after Saadeddine El Otmani was elected Secretary General replacing Abdelilah Benkirane ? Generally speaking, the role played by trade unionists and political parties in Morocco is very weak which affects the political scene that is already dominated by technocrats. Political parties fail to meet their commitments clashing with other political bodies and with the authorities. The opposition position itself away from the king while the government claims that it is closer to him. And therefore their rivalry negatively affects the political scene. All these points pushed only 1 per cent of young Moroccans join the political parties and made political activities a secondary choice for the people. Meanwhile, the popularity the Justice and Development Party managed to get during the 2011 and the 2016 elections started to fade away for so many reasons. One of these reasons is the fact that the party was unable to form a government and to show support for its Secretary General as a potential Prime Minister. However, the PJD remains one of the few parties in Morocco that are respected for maintaining internal democracy and the rotation of power. What about Benkirane's future ? The party is not affiliated with Benkirane as a person ; it has a collective leader. As Benkirane managed to get so much popularity, others can do it too. The current position of the party's Secretary General is certainly going to help El Othmani gain popularity as well. And as Benkirane had his own supporters and sympathizers, there might be others who would like El Othmani's approach. In all cases, another PJD national council is scheduled for 2021 when Benkirane can run for the same post. He is free to be the politician he has always been. Benkirane's chapter will be closed only if the party manages to learn from its mistakes improving its status in the political scene. Otherwise, people would ask for Benkirane's return. I think that the PJD survived the recent impasse without losing faith in democracy. Internal democracy can prolong the lives of political parties and can maintain the continuity of regimes and nations in general. Some politicians believe that El Othmani excluded Benkirane's supporters from the party's general secretariat. Don't you think that he is trying to close his predecessor's chapter ? Having a group of followers who support Saadeddine El Othmani inside the party's General Secretariat is normal. The current Prime Minister is entitled to have a supporting team as he is already facing the opposition in the parliament. The Party's future depends on whether it would manage to stay strong or slack down and surrender to its weaknesses. To put it in other words, the weakest the party gets, the stronger Benkirane will become, and vice versa. So the party's unity has not been affected ? I think that the PJD is not splitting any time soon. Although Benkirane's group was put aside when it comes to the PJD's general secretariat, it is still present in the parliament.
