Abdelilah Benkirane re-elected as PJD leader with strong mandate

Unsurprisingly, Abdelilah Benkirane has been re-elected as leader of the Justice and Development Party (PJD) for another term. His candidacy, proposed by congress attendees, secured 947 out of 1,402 votes, representing 69.4% of the total, the Party’s website reported on Sunday.

Driss Azami and Abdellah Bouanou, president of the parliamentary group, rounded out the top three with 374 and 42 votes, respectively.

To successfully carry out his new mandate, Benkirane can count on the support of two close allies: Driss Azami, elected as the PJD’s first deputy secretary-general, and Abdelaziz El Omari, appointed as second deputy secretary-general. The succession appears well secured, with Jamaa Moatassim, another trusted associate of Benkirane, appointed president of the national council.

Benkirane had resumed leadership of the PJD in October 2021, following an extraordinary congress convened after the Islamist party’s heavy defeat in the legislative, municipal, and regional elections of September 8, 2021.