Yasser Kanaani, in an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations referred to the defeat of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Moroccan parliamentary elections, which were attended by more than 50 percent of eligible voters, and said: In order to increase the turnout, the Kingdom of Morocco held local elections in addition to the parliamentary elections, and the Muslim Brotherhood, in the form of the “Justice and Development Party”, after 10 years in power, with a large difference from the “National Rally of Independents”, under the leadership of “Aziz Akhannouch”, was defeated.

Emphasizing that the title of the party should not be translated as the National Rally of the “Liberals” or the “Free People”, the expert on Africa affairs continued: The National Rally of Independents” won the election with more than 97 seats and in some news 102 seats against the Justice and Development Party, which won 12 seats; of course, the Authenticity and Modernity Party won 82 seats and the Independence Party won 78 seats.

Reasons for the defeat of Muslim Brotherhood in the elections

Kanaani cited inability of the Muslim Brotherhood to fulfill the promises it had made and the failure to meet the living and social demands of the people as one of the reasons for such failure, adding: Aziz Akhannouch, now in charge of forming a coalition cabinet, is known as a Christian bourgeois and capitalist whose fortune has been estimated at 2.2 billion dollars by the Forbes magazine. This level of popular interest in such a person shows the inefficiency of the Islamist parties in that country, against which small political currents were able to seize power in an organized process through reconstruction and organizational measures.

Referring to some amendments in Morocco’s new electoral laws in favor of smaller parties, he continued: The Akhannouch -led party won about 10 percent of the seats in parliament in the 2006 elections, and the number of votes it has now won is significant.

The analyst of Africa affairs noted: During the elections, the leader of the National Rally of Independents Party spoke about the model of progress and fundamental reforms through his organizational work and consultations, and is now consulting with other political parties and groups to form a coalition government in Morocco for the next five years.

Kanaani referred to the removal of the former and charismatic leader of the Justice and Development Party, who was prime minister from 2011 to 2017 and was ousted by the king due to his inability to form a government, and said: The Kingdom of Morocco seems to be supporting Akhannouch’s party in an effort to modernize and maintain his power, and in some pessimistic analysis his party is even referred to as the “King’s Party”.

He added: In fact, some analysts describe what happened in Morocco as a “political earthquake”, but others believe that this is a process that is taking place with the support and planning of the King of Morocco, “Mohammed VI”.

The expert on Africa affairs cited the economic consequences of the Coronavirus outbreak as another reason for the Justice and Development Party failure in Morocco’s touristic country and said: The severance of Algeria’s political relationship with Morocco was not ineffective in those developments, and it provoked part of the feelings and public opinion of that country and led to such purposeful political participation. Meanwhile, Morocco’s handling of the Western Sahara and the Polisario Front issues has also played a role in this regard.

As for other reasons for the people’s interest in the party which is rival of the Islamists, Kanaani said: Aziz Akhannouch has been in power for 11 years as Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, and important talks were held with EU officials until last year on fishing and fishing resources in the Western Sahara region, which took place in favor of the Kingdom of Morocco. In such circumstances, those concessions have shown themselves more in the face of the inefficiency of the Brotherhood government.

Temporary decline of Muslim Brotherhood in Africa

At the same time, he described the decline of the Muslim Brotherhood in Africa as temporary and provisional, and said: If we observe the developments in African countries, we see that the rise of Islamic currents has been subject to various factors and had fluctuation. This decline is not fundamental, and Islamist currents have had some emergence, given the leaders they have had at different times; however, Europe and the West support the presence of “Mohammed VI” at the helm of power in Morocco, as a provider of their own interests, and in this regard, they are even waging a psychological war.

Consequences of the defeat of the Islamists

Emphasizing that the votes of the silent Moroccan community, which accounted for about half of the population in that election, should also be taken into account, Kanaani continued: Mr. Akhannouch has been involved in politics in Morocco since 2003 and has always emphasized in his posts on categories that have been based on a model of deep progress and reform in order to ultimately be able to lead to the consolidation of the monarchy in Morocco.

He added: In this regard, Morocco is likely to make changes in its regional policies, taking into account some interests; so Morocco looks set to make changes with regard to Algeria, the Western Sahara, the Polisario and other issues it has with its neighbors.

The expert on Africa issues referred to the geopolitical consequences of the defeat of Islamists in Morocco and the growing influence of countries critical of the Muslim Brotherhood in that country, including the UAE, and said: The Moroccan society is a traditional society and, on the contrary, it has formed contests with the intellectual current within it. The people of that country are Muslim in general and traditionally respect Islamic customs and rituals. They have some solidarity with the Palestinians, but what we are seeing now in Morocco is in line with consolidation of the monarchy and stabilizing the conditions for the crown prince as the future king, and persuasion of public opinion should be through electoral capacity and economic issues.

In conclusion, Kanaani said: Issues such as establishing relations with the Zionist regime are in line with the policies of the Kingdom of Morocco and will be continued the same. In fact, the analysis of many experts from the positions of the elected prime minister and his party is that he is taking steps to consolidate the monarchy’s policies.