December 10, 2008 -- Liberal politicians from across the Maghreb met recently in Marrakech to engage one another in a debate on the relationship between politics and religion.

Representatives of political parties from Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Morocco convened the new "Liberal Forum" on November 22nd to explore several issues of concern in the region. After discussing the different obstacles standing in the way of the Arab Maghreb Union, they moved on to "Religion and politics: how should they relate to one another within the Maghreb".

Moroccan parties, such as the Constitutional Union, the Popular Movement, and Mauritania's "National Salvation Front" coalition, called for the people's Islamic faith to be respected as a consistent characteristic.

"The fact that the King is Commander of the Faithful does not present a problem," said Mohand Laenser, Secretary-General of Morocco's Popular Movement party. "We simply need to find a proper balance between Islam and politics."

Hassan Abayba, chairman of the Liberal Forum and representative of the Moroccan Constitutional Union party, asserted that Islam and liberal ideology can co-exist. "There are in fact several forms of liberal ideology in the world, not one single form," he said.

The representative of the Mauritanian coalition, Mohamed Znagui, contended that a separation between politics and religion is impossible. "In our country," he said, "Islam constitutes the sole element which the different Mauritanian groups have in common."

Conversely, the head of Tunisia's Social Liberal Party, Mondher Thabet, told Magharebia, "We are a secular party and we stress the fact that a clean separation between politics and religion is necessary to promote human rights and defend the rights of minorities. We think that a liberal party can only be secular."

Thabet further specified that "religion can be a factor in social cohesion and identity, but the state must be neutral; "the state is not supposed to defend or subscribe to the majority religion in its society."

Such a move, Thabet elaborated, "is in total contradiction with the promotion of freedom of conscience and freedom of expression. Such actions have actually proved to be a trap for Arab regimes in relation to Islamist movements. These movements seize on the fact that various constitutions cite Islam as the State religion to demonstrate a contradiction with the ruling authorities and their policies."

Rabah Boucetta, an Algerian official from the Rally for Culture and Democracy, agreed. "The problem facing us today is Islamism. Unlike the Middle East … [and] other regions … the state [is] pushing Islamism forward and giving a political dimension to religious practices," he concluded.