Morocco: Coalition for Democracy Releases Manifesto

Morocco’s Coalition for Democracy announced a four-year plan detailing three “realistic and achievable” aims for “a modern and progressive society.” The coalition is comprised of eight political parties who agreed to the joint manifesto. The parties’ first goal is to “restore confidence and reconcile the public with the country’s political institutions. They also aim to make political action meaningful.”

Secondly, the coalition hopes to “give people dignity by bringing about real equality between men and women and between urban and rural areas, and fight poverty, job insecurity and various forms of social exclusion.” It has also promised to create 200,000 jobs per year for youth. The coalition also advocates moderate Islam, which they say is “in perfect harmony with universal human values.” The group was formed in order to oppose the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), which “has been cited in confidential U.S. diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks as the party with the largest popular following in Morocco.” Some critics of the coalition allege that the timing of its formation suggests its interest in the November 25 parliamentary elections rather than the presentation of a long-term political structure, as the alliance has claimed