MESA Banner
Official and Popular Islam: The PJD and the Struggle for Legitimacy
Abstract
Non-violent Islamist movements have finally come to be accepted as part of Morocco’s changing political landscape. Islamism still challenges the religious monopoly of the Moroccan monarch, but it has adapted well to new circumstances following the rise to power of King Mohamed VI. It has toned down its radical ambitions and some of its elements have accepted to work within the existing system—for now. This paper will focus on the birth and evolution of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), which recently became the second party in parliament, and will tackle the following questions: Does the political integration of the PJD constitute a successful cooptation of the Islamist movement or have the Islamists themselves opted for integration as a tactical path to a future hard challenge of the regime? Do this integration and the PJD itself constitute a successful taming of the Islamist challenge or are they a mere example of the “post-Islamism” moment, as claimed by some (Olivier Roy’s 1998, Gilles Kepel 2000). In “post-Islamism”, political Islam is characterized by a gradual moderation with a preference for the political over the religious. Since the PJD is no longer a danger, does then the real challenge reside elsewhere—possibly in the al Adl Wal Ihsan movement, which refuses to be part of the system, or in latent radical religious factions, or in the military? The paper will propose that if the integration of the PJD is part of a genuine political opening, then the test of the pragmatic adaptation of both Islamism and the monarchy will rest on how popular Islam and official Islam will coexist without cutting into each other’s legitimacy. It will also argue that since the PJD is far from representing the bulk of the Islamist current in Morocco, its integration will not suffice. Both, Political Islam and the monarchy need to accommodate one another within an overhauled political system; the monarchy must shift its legitimacy base from tradition and religion to serious political reform, substantive social and economic programs and negotiated public policies in all important areas. These steps and a substantially revised constitutional order may help safeguard a democratizing polity when secular and religious forces will finally, and equally, be entrusted with governance. Work on this paper will include archival research and interviews.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
Morocco
Sub Area
Democratization