Morocco's moderate Islamists are the latest religious party to achieve spectacular gains on the back of the Arab Spring.
A month after Islamists won Tunisia's post-revolution election and days before their predicted surge in Egyptian polls, their Moroccan counterparts claimed to have achieved a similar breakthrough without bloodshed.
With official results expected Sunday, the Justice and Development Party (PJD) – a moderate Islamist movement which accepts the monarchy – said its own figures gave it a clear edge.
"The figures which we have allow us to say that we will have over 100 seats" out of the 395 in parliament, PJD parliamentary bloc leader Lahcen Daoudi said, adding that his party notched up wins in rural areas where it had little traditional support.
"We have already won over 80 seats and I can tell you that we will easily have over 100 seats. This is a historic turning point," added Mustapha el Khelfi, the managing editor of Attajdid, the PJD's mouthpiece. » | Saturday, November 26, 2011
My comment:
What’s all this talk about “moderate Islamism”? Now that’s an oxymoron if ever I heard one! Islam is not given to moderation; Islamism still less so! What a load of tosh! They might well appear moderate on the surface, and at the start; but just wait! They’ll soon show just how moderate they are. – © Mark
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