The Party for Justice and Development’s “Specialization” in Politics: Metamorphosis and Contradictions

Based on empirical research, this article analyzes “the specialization” of the Moroccan Party for Justice and Development and the internal tensions between its political and religious vocations. The latter is one of the Islamist parties with the longest political experience in the Maghreb area which started its “professionalization” in politics at an early stage, at least since 1997–1998. However, little is known in the literature if this pragmatic decision led to the reformation of the movement’s classical ideology. In fact, the “inclusion-moderation hypothesis” showed that the institutionalization of the Islamists parties does not necessarily entail their ideological moderation. By analyzing the contradictions of the structural reform between the party and the Movement for Unity and Reform this article argues that some practices could question the “specialization” thesis. It highlights that despite the “specialization,” the pjd did not reform its core beliefs which are preserved for both religious and political reasons.