Reforming the Regime or Reforming the Dissidents? The Gradualist Dissent of Islamic Movements in Morocco

Abstract

Among the different courses that Islamic movements have taken in the Middle East, the Islamic movements in Morocco are distinguished by their gradualist character. By ‘gradualist’, I mean a movement which seeks change in society and the political system within the existing socio-political framework and over the long term. This tendency sharply contrasts with insurrectionary movements, which aim for radical and even violent breaks with the established order. There are many examples of the latter, such as the Iranian Islamic revolution of 1979, coup d’état by Hasan al-Turabi and his National Islamic Front in Sudan in 1989, and establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan by the Taliban in 1996. An example of a ‘failed’ Islamic insurrection is the movement by Front islamique du salut (FIS or Islamic Front of Salvation) after the cancellation of the 1991 elections in Algeria (Kepel 2000: 166–82). On the other hand, gradualist movements include AKP in Turkey.¹ In Morocco, the Parti de la justice et du développement (PJD or Party of Justice and Development), a political party whose ‘mother’ social movement is the Islamic Harakat al-Tawhid wa al-Islah (MUR or Movement of Unicity and Reform), can be regarded as a gradualist movement because, fundamentally, they do not intend to overthrow the regime of the Kingdom of Morocco even if they do criticize it as a means of obtaining their desired reforms.