Former Speaker of the House of Representatives and leader of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), Abdelouahed Radi died on Sunday at the age of 88, leaving behind him a remarkable political legacy at the national, Arab and international.
It is the end of a long political journey that began very early, and also of a political struggle, first in resistance against the colonizer and then for many decades on different fronts. But the deceased is mainly known and recognized for having been a man of consensus and a sage. Qualities which, according to the testimonies of his companions and political actors from all sides, were of great help during certain critical periods in the history of the Rose Party.
The deceased was also appreciated for his wide network of acquaintances and relations, which enabled him to play leading roles at the Arab and international levels, among others, in his capacity as Secretary General of the Arab-African Union ( 1984-1986), President of the Consultative Council of the Arab Maghreb Union (2001-2003) and President of the Union of Parliaments of Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (2001-2004).
In the political career of the deceased, exceptional both for his longevity and his wealth, we note his election in 1962 to the national council of the National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP). In 1989, he became a member of the political bureau of the USFP, the First Deputy Secretary of this party in 2003 before his election five years later as its head at the eighth congress of the USFP in November 2008.
At the government level, the deceased had the opportunity to assume the functions of Minister in charge of Cooperation in 1983 (Government of Mohamed Karim Lamrani) and Minister of Justice in 2007 during the government led by Abbas El Fassi.
But his parliamentary activity remains undeniably more remarkable and more noted for its longevity: the late Abdelouahed Radi has been a deputy since 1963 when his death was announced. He was also elected to the roost of the House of Representatives in the 1997-2002, 2002-2007 and 2010-2011 legislatures.
Despite all his political occupations, the deceased also reserved time for academic activity by teaching social psychology at Mohammed V University in Rabat. At the same time, he was elected Secretary General of the National Union of Higher Education (1968-1974), during which time he was responsible for the philosophy, sociology and psychology department at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in Rabat.
This is what made the first secretary of the USFP, Driss Lachgar, say in a funeral oration: “The late Abdelouahed Radi has always been at the service of his homeland even before his party, always believing in a democratic and modernist Morocco. and a better future”, before saluting the notable contributions of the deceased, in turn, activist and political leader, academic, government official, deputy and local elected official, and so many other responsibilities always assumed with the concern to serve above all and before all his country.
And to note that the deceased never departed from his calm and his wisdom during the exercise of his high functions, even in the most difficult moments.
Finally, another remarkable fact to the credit of the deceased: shortly before passing the weapon on the left, he had decided to entrust all his personal archives to the institution “Archives du Maroc”, ultimate bequest and contribution on his part to the preservation and transmission of the secular history of the Kingdom.
SR