| Abderrahmane Youssoufi | |
| Order: | Prime Minister of Morocco |
| Term Start: | 4 February 1998 |
| Term End: | 9 October 2002 |
| Predecessor: | Abdellatif Filali |
| Successor: | Driss Jettou |
| Birth Date: | 8 March 1924 |
| Birth Place: | Tangier, Morocco |
| Death Place: | Casablanca, Morocco |
| Death Cause: | Lung cancer |
| Party: | Socialist Union of Popular Forces |
| Native Name Lang: | ar |
Abderrahmane Youssoufi (; ar|عبد الرحمن اليوسفي; 8 March 1924 – 29 May 2020) was a Moroccan politician and human rights lawyer who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Morocco from 1998 to 2002,[1] serving under King Hassan II and King Mohammed VI.[2] [3] He was the Secretary General of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (French: Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires, USFP).[4]
Born in Tangier,[5] Youssoufi was a socialist from a young age,[5] dedicating himself to organizing the working class of Casablanca as early as 1944.[5] In 1949 Youssoufi began also to fight for the rights of immigrant Moroccan workers in France.[5] He also studied law, practicing in Tangier from 1952 to 1960.[6]
The Youssoufi family were of Berbers origin, and the future prime minister spoke only Tamazight and French until he began school, where he learned standard Arabic and Darija (Moroccan Arabic).[7]
Youssoufi evolves within the Army of Liberation in the company of its formidable leader Fqih Basri.[8] Through Mehdi Ben Barka, Youssoufi joined a group of passionate young men who shared a vision: An independent Morocco. Youssoufi became a member of the Al Istiqlal (Independence) Party and, at only 19 years old, threw himself into the fight for a free Morocco.[9] He was nicknamed Lenin by the Moroccan police for his excessive Nationalism.[10] He was arrested Twice, once imprisoned for his political dissidence, he was one of the most important figures in Morocco’s political scene.[11] his participation in the creation of the Arab Organization for Human Rights
In 1959, Youssoufi was one of the founders of the National Union of Popular Forces, a left-wing political party.[12] He was arrested for his involvement in 1959 and again in 1963,[5] the latter arrest leading to a prison sentence of two years.[6] Following his release, Youssoufi went into self-imposed exile in Paris for a period of fifteen years.[6] Later he returned to Morocco.[13] Meanwhile, the National Union of Popular Forces became the Socialist Union of Popular Forces and Abderrahmane Youssoufi was appointed its permanent delegate outside the country, and later, in 1978, a member of its political bureau.[14] In 1980 Youssoufi returned to join the new party,[15] becoming the party secretary in 1992 after the death of Abderrahim Bouabid.
In 1983, he co-founded the Arab Organization for Human Rights along with Egyptian sociologist Saad Eddin Ibrahim and French-Syrian sociologist Burhan Ghalioun.[16] [17]
On 4 February 1998, following the victory of Youssoufi's party in the 1997 Moroccan general election, King Hassan II named Youssoufi the Prime Minister of Morocco.[18] [19] Youssoufi formed a left-center government which would provide greater freedoms for the people and media.[20] [21] In 2002, the USFP was re-elected to a majority in the general election that year, although King Mohammed VI appointed a technocrat, Driss Jettou, to succeed Youssoufi as Prime Minister. On 28 October 2003, Abderrahmane Youssoufi resigned from his post as First Secretary of the USFP.[22]
In February 2005, Youssoufi announced his retirement from politics. He began to live in Casablanca after his retirement.[21] On 15 October 2016, Youssoufi was hospitalized for pneumonia and King Mohammed VI visited him in the hospital.[23] [24] He had no children.[25]
Youssoufi died on 29 May 2020, at the age of 96 due to lung cancer.[26] [27] His funeral took place Friday at the “Chouhada” (martyrs) cemetery in Casablanca in the presence of a small number of relatives due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[28]
In 1991, Youssoufi was one of the two winners of the North-South Prize.[30] In 2016, King Mohammed VI of Morocco honored Youssoufi by naming an avenue in Tangier after him.[31] [32]