Abdelouafi Laftit (; born 29 September 1967) is a Moroccan politician, currently serving as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

since 5 April 2017.

Biography

Laftit was born in

Tafersit Tafersit (Tarifit: Tfaasit, ⵜⴰⴼⴻⵔⵙⵉⵜ; Arabic: تفرسيت) is a commune in Driouch Province, Oriental, Morocco. The town is situated in the Rif mountains, not far from the Mediterranean Sea. According to the 2004 census, it has a ...

. He graduated from the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1989, and the

École des ponts ParisTech École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1991. He is also married, with four children.

Political career

Laftit previously worked in several positions in the regional and port sectors before he was appointed

Wali A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...

(governor) of the

Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaër (; ar, الرباط سلا زمور زعير, , Berber: ''Errbaṭ-Sla-Zemmur-Zɛir'') was formerly one of the sixteen regions of Morocco from 1997 to 2015. It was situated in north-western Morocco. It covered an area o ...

region by King

Mohammed VI Muhammad VI may refer to: * Muhammad Imaaduddeen VI (1868–1932), sultan of the Maldives from 1893 to 1902 * Mehmed VI (1861–1926), sultan of Ottoman Empire, from 1918 to 1922 * Mohammed VI of Morocco Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد الساد ...

on 24 January 2014, as well as of the Rabat prefecture. He continued his role as Wali when the region was reorganized as

Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Rabat-Salé-Kénitra ( ar, الرباط-سلا-القنيطرة, ar-ribāṭ salā al-qunayṭira; ber, ⴻⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ-ⵙⵍⴰ-ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, eṛṛbaṭ sla qniṭra) is one of the twelve administrative regions of Morocco. It is ...

in 2015. In April 2017, Laftit was appointed by Mohammed VI as Minister of the Interior in the government of

Saadeddine Othmani Saadeddine Othmani ( ber, ⵙⴰⵄⴷ ⴷⴷⵉⵏ ⵍⵄⵓⵜⵎⴰⵏⵉ; ar, سعد الدين العثماني; born 16 January 1956), sometimes translated as Saad Eddine el-Othmani, is a Moroccan politician. He served as the 16th prime mi ...

. He remained in his position along with the Minister of Islamic Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of

Aziz Akhannouch Aziz Akhannouch (; ; born 1961) is a Moroccan politician, businessman, and billionaire who is currently the Prime Minister of Morocco since his government took office on 7 October 2021. He is the CEO of Akwa Group and also served as Minister of A ...

Controversy

On 2 April 2018, during a meeting at the Commission for the Interior, Local Authorities, Housing and Urban Policy in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, Laftit accused a number of organizations, including the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), of "widening protest zones in multiple regions of the kingdom" and "exploiting any social movement to worsen the situation". In response to his comments, the Moroccan Coalition of Human Rights Bodies (CMIDH) said that Laftit intended to "reinforce censorship" and demanded an apology from him.

References

Government ministers of Morocco 1967 births Living people École Polytechnique alumni {{DEFAULTSORT:Laftit, Abdelouafi Riffian people