Abderrahim Bouabid

Abderrahim Bouabid was born in the old town of Salé, on 23 March 1922. He studied the primary school in his hometown, before starting high school in Rabat, at Moulay Youssef high school. During that time, he frequented a number of distinguished personalities who shaped the future of the country. A friend of Mehdi Ben Barka, the young man was introduced to the Nationalist Movement at the time, opposing the French presence in the country. In 1939, after graduating, he moved to Fez to become a teacher, meeting nationalist organizations.[1]

Being involved in politics since his young age, Abderrahim Bouabid became one of the youngest activists and politicians to sign the Proclamation of Independence of Morocco, a manifesto presented by the Independence party on 11 January 1944 demanding full independence from France and Spain, national reunification and a democratic constitution.

On 28 January 1944, Bouabid led a big demonstration in Salé denouncing the arrest of some influential figures of his party. He was jailed alongside a number of Istiqlal leaders before being released a year later. In 1946 he joined his friend Mehdi Ben Barka in France to write a report on the Moroccan situation and submit it to the United Nations. While living in France, he pursued his studies in University and became a lawyer in 1949.[2]

Once Morocco was granted independence, Bouabid was named State Minister for negotiations under Mbarek Bekkai's government. In 1956, he became ambassador of Morocco in Paris, and he was later appointed a Minister of national economy. On 12 May 1958, he was in charge of the Ministry of national economy and agriculture in Ahmed Balafrej’s cabinet. He was Minister of Economy and Finance from December 1958 to May 1960.[3]

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