Abdelilah Benkirane

Position: Prime minister

Biography: Abdelilah Benkirane is the prime minister of Morocco. He is also the leader of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). The PJD has been the dominant party in power since the parliamentary elections in November 2011, when it won the most seats.

Due to new reforms, King Mohamed VI had to select a member of the winning party to head the coalition government. It marked the first time the PJD was in power and the first time an Islamic party has been in charge of the country. The king still retains the right to veto government decisions and Benkirane has publicly stated his pro-monarchy stance. He became head of the PJD in 2008, after having been elected president of the party’s national council in 2004.

Benkirane obtained a degree in physical sciences in 1979 and was a professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Rabat until 1988. He attended Moulay Youssef High School in Rabat.

Contact Tel: (+212) 5 3721 9400