During the 1970s, Benkirane was a leftist and Islamist political activist. He has represented Salé in the Moroccan parliament since 14 November 1997. He was elected leader of the Justice and Development Party in July 2008, taking over from Saadeddine Othmani. Benkirane's politics are democratic and Islamist. In a 2011 interview he said: "If I get into government, it won't be so I can tell young women how many centimeters of skirt they should wear to cover their legs. That's none of my business. It is not possible, in any case, for anyone to threaten the cause of civil liberties in Morocco". However, he has in the past described secularism as "a dangerous concept for Morocco", and in 2010 he campaigned, unsuccessfully, to ban a performance in Rabat by Elton John because it "promoted homosexuality". Benkirane became Prime Minister on 29 November 2011. His government targeted average economic growth of 5.5 percent a year during its four-year mandate, and aimed to reduce the jobless rate to 8 percent by the end of 2016 from 9.1 percent at the start of 2012. Benkirane's government also actively pursued Morocco's ties with the European Union, its chief trade partner, as well as becoming increasingly engaged with the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council. On 1 December 2016, Benkirane criticized the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad for its actions during the Syrian Civil War: "What the Syrian regime backed by Russia is doing to the Syrian people surpasses all humanitarian limits".
2017 events
On 12 April 2017, Abdelilah Benkirane resigned from the Moroccan Parliament claiming incompatibility. However, many media accused him of buying time in order to avoid showing his positions towards the newly appointed Chief of the Government, Saadeddine El Othmani On 15 March 2017, after five months of post-election deadlock, King Mohammed VI ousted Benkirane as Prime Minister of Morocco and said he would choose another leader from the Justice and Development Party. The king made the decision after Benkirane was unable to form a functioning government due to ongoing political negotiations. On 17 March 2017 the king chose Saadeddine Othmani to replace Benkirane as Prime Minister.
Family
Born in Rabat, Benkirane's family are originally from Fes. His father was interested in Sufism and Islamic fundamentalism, while his mother attended meetings of the women's branch of Istiqlal. Benkirane enjoys chess and music, although he says he is "not in favour of indecent music". His role model is his father, who died at the age of 90, when Benkirane was 16. He is married to a party activist and has six children. His youngest daughter is tetraplegic.
