Saadeddine Othmani (; ; born 16 January 1956), sometimes translated as Saad Eddine el-Othmani, is a Moroccan politician. He served as the 16^th

prime minister of Morocco The prime minister of Morocco, officially head of government (), is the head of government of the Morocco, Kingdom of Morocco. The prime minister is chosen by the king of Morocco from the largest party elected to Parliament of Morocco, parliamen ...

from 17 March 2017 to 7 October 2021. Previously he served as

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

from 2012 to 2013. Following the 2011 legislative elections giving victory to the PJD, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in the resulting cabinet formed in January 2012, a position he held until October 2013. Since 2002, he has also been a member of the Maghreb Council of the Choura, the advisory council of the

Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union ( '; AMU/UMA) is a political union and economic union trade agreement aiming for economic and future political unity among Arab countries that are located primarily in the Maghreb in North Africa. Its members are the natio ...

Early life and education

Othmani was born in 1956 in

Inezgane Inezgane () is the capital of Inezgane-Aït Melloul Prefecture located on the north bank of the Sous River, about south of Agadir, on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Morocco. It is in some ways a suburb to the larger Agadir, but unlike the tourism-ce ...

, near

Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

, in the

Sous The Sous region (also spelt Sus, Suss, Souss or Sousse) (, ) is a historical, cultural and geographical region of Morocco, which constitutes part of the region administration of Souss-Massa and Guelmim-Oued Noun. The region is known for the en ...

s region. He comes from a famous Chleuh family from

originating from the village of Aguercif (a small village that belongs to the Amanouz tribes near

Tafraout Tafraout, also Tafraoute (, ) is a town in Tiznit Province, Souss-Massa region, Morocco. Situated in the central part of the Anti-Atlas mountains, a mountain range in Morocco which is part of the Atlas Mountains in the northwest of Africa, the to ...

), which according to Mohamed Mokhtar Soussi, is "one of the only two families in Morocco where science has been perpetuated for more than a thousand years". This is Islamic jurisprudence and not science in the modern sense. His family immigrated to a village in the Ammelne valley and then to

. In 1976, he received his baccalaureate in math, he then moved to

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

to pursue a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the city's Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, which he received in 1987. He also studied Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Sharia Law in

Aït Melloul Aït Melloul () is a city on the west coast of Morocco. It is located in the suburban area of Agadir just southeast of Inezgane, on the southern bank of the Sous River. According to the 2014 population census, the city is home to 171,847 inhabita ...

, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1983 and his master's degree in 1987. In 1994, he began practicing as a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

. He has written numerous books on psychology and Islamic law, and worked as the editor-in-chief of many magazines and publications.

Political career

In 2004, after the withdrawal from politics of Abdelkrim Alkhatib, Othmani became the head of the Justice and Development Party (PJD). At the time, he was also a parliamentary deputy for

. He was later succeeded by

Abdelilah Benkirane Abdelilah Benkirane (, born 1954) is a Moroccan politician who was the Prime Minister of Morocco from November 2011 to March 2017. After having won a plurality of seats in the 2011 parliamentary election, his party, the moderate Islamist Justi ...

in 2008, and became leader of the party once again in 2017 following Benkirane's failure to form a government. Othmani was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 3 January 2012 to 10 October 2013 in the government headed by his party, the PJD. He was succeeded as Minister of Foreign Affairs by

Salaheddine Mezouar Salaheddine Mezouar ( – born 11 December 1953, Meknes) is a Moroccan politician and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 October 2013 until 2017. Career In 2004, he was appointed Minister of Industry, Trade and Restructuring of the Economy. ...

. Subsequently, he headed the

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

of the PJD. On 17 March 2017, he was appointed prime minister by

King Mohammed VI Mohammed VI (; born 21 August 1963) is King of Morocco. A member of the Alawi dynasty, he acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Mohammed initially introduced several ...

, after Benkirane was dismissed for failing to form a new coalition. Othmani later said that his appointment was "unexpected." On 25 March 2017, he announced that the government he was leading would include the PJD, the National Rally of Independents, the Popular Movement, the Constitutional Union, the

Party of Progress and Socialism The Party of Progress and Socialism (; ; , PPS) is a left-wing socialist political party in Morocco. History and profile The party was founded in 1974 by Ali Yata as the successor of Moroccan Communist Party and Party of Liberation and Socia ...

and the

Socialist Union of Popular Forces The Socialist Union of Popular Forces (; ; , USFP) is a social democratic political party in Morocco. It claims ideas of social justice, modernity and the fight against inequalities. History and profile The USFP was formed as a breakaway from ...

. It was formed on 5 April 2017. Othmani's government was viewed as

francophile A Francophile is a person who has a strong affinity towards any or all of the French language, History of France, French history, Culture of France, French culture and/or French people. That affinity may include France itself or its history, lang ...

. On 26 November 2017, he announced the dismissal of four cabinet members for allegedly failing to implement the government's development program for Morocco's northern

Rif The Rif (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people ...

region. In December 2017, he was elected new party leader of the PJD. On 24 August 2020, Othmani, along with his party, rejected normalizing relations with Israel, stating doing so would breach Palestinian rights. In 2021, he received

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

leader Ismail Haniyeh in Rabat to express his support for the Palestinian cause. On 8 September 2021, in the 2021 Moroccan general election, legislative elections, his party won 13 of the 395 seats, losing nearly 90% of the seats obtained in 2016, including Othmani's own seat in Mohammedia. Benkirane called upon Othmani to resign from his position as party leader. Many politicians blamed Othmani for his poor performance. The following day, Othmani decided to resign from his position as Secretary General of the Justice and Development Party. Aziz Akhannouch of the National Rally of Independents was appointed by Mohammed VI on 10 September to form a government, and succeeded him on 7 October. A ceremony marking the transfer of the office was held the following day.

Personal life

After leaving office in October 2021, Othmani resumed his job at his private psychiatric practice in Rabat. He also released a book about the path of prominent Moroccan figures in the world of jurisprudence and politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Othmani, Saadeddine 1956 births Justice and Development Party (Morocco) politicians Living people Members of the House of Representatives (Morocco) Moroccan Berber politicians Moroccan psychiatrists People from Agadir University of Hassan II Casablanca alumni Prime ministers of Morocco Foreign ministers of Morocco Shilha people