Abdu Rahman Al-Yusufi :The Tough Politician Who Saved Morocco From Deep Crisis

"Abdu Rahman Al-Yusufi led a unique political experience, the first of its kind in the contemporary history of Morocco, which greatly contributed to saving the country from a serious economic and political crisis" According to the politician Dr. Idris Al-Karawi .

Al-Karawi explains the crucial reasons that drove him to write a book about Al-Yusufi’s life  "It was necessary, morally and ethically, to introduce the salient aspects of Al-Yusufi’s biography and career as a recognition for his achievements and reforms during the rotation government. Al-Karawi is preparing to sign his book "Abdu Rahman al-Yusufi: Lessons for History'' on the Eighth of February.

The "Political leader", as Moroccan newspapers describe him, led what is called the “alternation government” between March 1998 and October 2002. He formed this government with members of his party, with other opposition parties (the PI, the PPS, the FFD, and the PSD), and with other political forces of the centre (the RNI and the MNP).

In less than one week in hospital, Al-Yusufi died on May 29, 2020 because of harsh chest pains during  Coronavirus times. He had been suffering from cancer since the fifties of the last century and his lung was amputated. He also had a stroke during the period of the alternation government.

Now, Let’s introduce the “Savior of Morocco from Severe crisis", as the words of The King Hassan II described him.

The Icon of Political Consensus

The Moroccan politician has avoided talking to the media since his dissociation from politics in 2003. This  decision came after  King Mohammed VI appointed a first minister of technocrats to replace Yusufi, who was at the time the leader of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (left) party that led the legislative elections of 2002 .this was considered by Al-Yusufi as “Deviation from democracy.” 

Four years ago, the left led the government, headed by Al-Youssoufi. The leftist was not an ordinary politician, but rather an opponent of Hassan II. He traveled to France in November 1965 to testify as a civil party in the trial of the kidnappers of Mehdi Ben Barka - the most vocal opponent of the regime at the time, the circumstances of his disappearance are still unknown until now - and he remained there for 15 years in self-imposed exile.

Yusufi was sentenced in absentia in Morocco and the public prosecutor demanded a death sentence against him in 1975, then a pardon was issued for him on August 20, 1980, and he returned to Morocco in October of the same year.

He was elected General Secretary of the Socialist Union Party on January 8, 1992, then resigned from it after the results of the 1993 legislative elections were announced. In protest to the manipulation that had occurred in the election’s results,  he left the country and returned to France.

He returned from Paris after pressure from his colleagues and in the context of the new political atmosphere in the country and the desire shown by King Hassan II to involve the opposition in the government and leave room for reconciliation.

This was achieved after stalled and intermittent negotiations after Abd al-Rahman al-Yusufi accepted King Hassan second's offer to lead a "Alternation government", and he was appointed as Prime Minister on February 4, 1998, until October 2002.

Years later, Al-Yusufi said that his government faced "A heavy legacy, many difficulties and challenges, and despite that, it was keen to put in place major social reforms that affected broad segments of our society."

Al-Yusufi Memoirs

After another 15 years of isolation, Yusufi reached his ninth decade and decided to write his memoirs about an important and decisive stage in the history of Morocco.

Al-Yusufi spoke about the concept of “Alternation” in his memoirs “Conversations about What Happened,” when he said: “I used to meet with His Majesty at least once a week, and in some cases we met several times, and we met every week to prepare the agenda for the weekly government meeting.”

He continued, "We were also holding a special meeting to manage the schedule of ministerial council meetings. This is in addition to emergency meetings whenever necessary, whether with regard to national or international issues, during which we exchange views before making the necessary decisions."

About the heavy legacy he faced, Al-Yusufi affirmed in the same notes his struggle against the “Counter-reforms members”, specifically the strongman during the reign of Hassan II, his interior minister, Idris Al-Basri.

Al-Yusufi said: "Since the Socialist Union of Popular Forces chose the democratic struggle approach and participation in all local and legislative entitlements, Idris Al-Basri dominated what he called "the mother of ministries", meaning the Ministry of the Interior, which had the upper hand in rigging elections and in making pro-regime parties before any entitlement to occupy the first rank in it.”

He added: "When the late King Hassan II proposed to me to retain Idris Al-Basri as Minister of the Interior in the consensual government because the Security Council intended to hold the referendum in our southern provinces, in 1998, and because he had held this position for more than 15 years, I preferred him to be among the government staff. Instead of joining the royal court, he will be in a position he will not hesitate to exploit in order to put obstacles that will complicate the ways of communicating with His Majesty the King, and thus impede government activity.

Tough Character

Yusufi led the Moroccan government, in a difficult phase that the country was going through, after the death of the late King Hassan II (July 23, 1999), and the accession of King Mohammed VI to the throne.

Yusufi was born on March 8, 1924 in Tangiers (North), and passed away on Friday, May 29, 2020, after a long illness, at the age of 96.

He holds a law degree, as well as a postgraduate diploma in political science, and a diploma from the International Institute for Human Rights. At an early age, he became involved in politics, still in his prime when he was 19 years old.

In 2002, the party ranked first in the parliamentary elections, but the Moroccan king appointed his former interior minister, Driss Jettou, who is not affiliated with any party, to the head of the government. In response to this action, Yusufi considered Morocco to have deviated from the “democratic methodology,” and retired from political work leaving Marrakesh Palace angry.

Al-Yousifi was tough and quick to anger, but just as he maintained friendship with Hassan II until he turned from one of his opponents to his prime minister, he also did so with the current king of the country.

In an interview, Al-Yusufi stated that the king sought his advice in 2011, after the results of the elections, and before the appointment of the Secretary-General of the Justice and Development Party, Abdelilah Benkirane, as prime minister.

This consultation was followed by another from Benkirane the ex-prime minister, where he arrived on December 1, 2011, two days after his appointment, at the modest Yusufi house in Casablanca.

Al-Yousifi’s advisor in the first ministry and lawyer Abdul Aziz Al-Nuwaidi explained this by saying: The feelings that the king holds for this Man are of great appreciation. He is a national leader who has a glorious history. The admiration of King Hassan II for him at the end of his life, was due to the major role he played as political leader  in the smooth transition of power that saved the king and the country."

This appeared in a royal announcement that a regiment of new officers would be named after Al-Yusufi, on a street, and from a picture of the country’s king kissing the head of the political leader while he was on a hospital bed, in October 2016.

Al-Yusufi was awarded a high royal medal in February 2003, but he later apologized to many national and international requests to honor and celebrate him by saying: "What we have done is a national and striving duty, and doing the duty is purely rewarding".