Justice and Development Party حزب العدالة والتنمية ⴰⴽⴰⴱⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵜⴰⵏⵣⵣⴰⵔⴼⵓⵜ ⴷ ⵜⴰⵏⴼⵍⵉⵜ Parti de la justice et du développement | |
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| Abbreviation | JDP (English) PJD (French) |
| General Secretary | Abdelilah Benkirane |
| Founder | Abdelkrim al-Khatib |
| Founded | 1967; 59 years ago (1967) |
| Split from | Popular Movement |
| Headquarters | 4, rue El Yefrani Cité les Orangers,Rabat |
| Newspaper | Almisbah |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing[7] |
| Religion | Islam |
| Colours | Blue Orange |
| House of Representatives | 13 / 395 |
| House of Councillors | 3 / 120 |
| Pan-African Parliament | 1 / 5 (Morocco seats) |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| www.pjd.ma | |
TheJustice and Development Party (Arabic:حزب العدالة والتنمية,romanized: ḥizb al-ʿadāla wat-tanmiya;Standard Moroccan Tamazight:ⴰⴽⴰⴱⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵜⴰⵏⵣⵣⴰⵔⴼⵓⵜ ⴷ ⵜⴰⵏⴼⵍⵉⵜ,romanized: akabar n tanzzarfut d tanflit;French:Parti de la justice et du développement,PJD) is apolitical party inMorocco that advocates forIslamic democracy. It was the ruling party of Morocco from2011 to2021.
PJD was founded byAbdelkrim al-Khatib, one of the founders of thePopular Movement party, from which he was expelled in the mid-1960s, under the name ofMPDC (French:Mouvement populaire démocratique et constitutionnel, the "Popular Democratic and Constitutional Movement").[8] The party was an empty shell for many years, until various members of a clandestine associationChabiba Islamia, who later formed the MUR (French:Mouvement unité et réforme, the "Unity and Reform Movement") joined the party, with the authorisation and encouragement of formerinterior ministerDriss Basri. It later changed its name to current PJD in 1998.
The party won eight seats in theparliamentary election in 1997.[9] In theparliamentary election held on 27 September 2002, the party won 42 out of 325 seats,[9] winning most of the districts where it fielded candidates. Its secretary-general since 2004 wasSaadeddine Othmani, MP representingMohammedia. In theparliamentary election held on 7 September 2007, the PJD won 43 out of 325 seats,[10] behind theIstiqlal Party, which won 52. This was contrary to expectations that the PJD would win the most seats.[11] However, the party had limited number of candidates in the election.[10]
Abdelilah Benkirane was elected leader of the PJD in July 2008, taking over fromSaadeddine Othmani.[12] Having won a plurality of seats (107 seats) in the November 2011parliamentary election,[13][14] the party formed a coalition with three parties that had been part of previous governments, and Benkirane was appointed Prime Minister of Morocco on 29 November 2011.[15][16]
His new government has targeted average economic growth of 5.5 percent a year during its four-year mandate, and to reduce the jobless rate to 8 percent by the end of 2016 from 9.1 percent at the start of 2012.[16] Benkirane's government has also actively pursued Morocco's ties with theEuropean Union, its chief trade partner, as well as becoming increasingly engaged with the six-memberGulf Co-operation Council.
In the2021 general election, the PJD suffered acrushing defeat, losing 113 seats.[17][18][19]
On 11 March 2023, the PJD released a statement criticizingNasser Bourita, Morocco's foreign minister, accusing him of defending Israel during meetings with African and European officials. In response, the royal cabinet released a statement rebuking the PJD.[20][21] Party leaderAbdelilah Benkirane asked members of the party to not comment on the statement released by the royal cabinet and said the comments were directed towards Bourita, rather than the nation's interests.[22][23][24][25]
PJD is a conservative Islamic-democratic party which supports the Moroccan monarchy. PJD disavows violence, terrorism and seeks to defend Morocco's Islamic identity through legislative means.[9][26]
According to a paper published by theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace, the PJD has placed economic and legal issues at the core of its platform and is committed to internal democracy.[27]
The party's stated platform includes:[28]
It is historically affiliated with theMuslim Brotherhood,[29][30][31][32] however, despite this, PJD was never an official branch.[29]
| House of Representatives | ||||||
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/– | Leader | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 625,786 (#3) | 12.40 | 44 / 264 | - | ||
| 1984 | 69,862 (#8) | 1.6 | 0 / 301 |  44 | ||
| 1993 | did not participate | – | 0 / 333 | - | - | |
| 1997 | 264,324 (#10) | 4.1 | 9 / 325 |  9 | ||
| 2002 | ? (#3) | 12.92 | 42 / 325 | 33 | ||
| 2007 | 503,396 (#2) | 10.9 | 46 / 325 | 4 | ||
| 2011 | 1,080,914 (#1) | 22.8 | 107 / 395 | 61 | ||
| 2016 | 1,618,963 (#1) | 27.88 | 125 / 395 | 18 | ||
| 2021 | 325,337 (#8) | 4.30 | 13 / 395 | 112 | ||
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