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210 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 11 / 2018 regime; however, police repression and the lack of strategic success meant the remains of the organisation split. A significant number of the surviving members dissented from the organisation and founded a more political movement under the name of the Jamaa Khayria Association. In the 1990s, the movement changed its name to «Reform and Renovation» and joined the Popular Constitutional Democratic Movement. In 1998 it adopted the moderate stance of the Justice and Development Party led by Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane. By 2011, with the Arab Spring already under way, the PJD, unlike Morocco’s other major political group, Justice and Charity, had become much more pragmatic and the only party that accepted the religious legitimacy of the Alawite monarchy. It took part in the «political game» and managed to form part of the government for the first time in history. In 2015, in what was its first electoral test in four years, Benkirane’s PJD did well in local elections and was the most voted party in the regional council elections, garnering 25.6 % of the seats42. Now that we have mentioned them, it seems fitting to pause and take a brief look at Justice and Charity. Though also an Islamist group, unlike the PJD, the former has chosen to remain on the political sidelines. As mentioned previously, the structure of Morocco’s system only provides for two alternatives; you are either «inside» or «outside» the system and Justice and Charity is currently outside. Although Justice and Charity is officially banned, it is in fact tolerated de facto by the Moroccan authorities. However, the members of the group see it the other way round: they believe they are inside the law but not tolerated and denounce the harsh convictions, crackdowns and torture they are subjected to43. Al Adl wa Al Ihsan (Justice and Charity) was founded in 1981 by Abdesslam Yassine, who died in 2012 at the age of 84. The group boycotts election after election because it believes that the real power is vested in the king and it does not recognise the king as the highest religious authority in the country or the Commander of the Faithful (in the 2011 Constitution). It is therefore openly, but peacefully opposed to the monarchy. During the Arab Spring of 2011, it supported the secular reformist February 20 Movement; when they left it, the movement lost momentum. And it did so because it believed it impossible to tackle the reforms by peaceful means, according to Fatala Arsalan, deputy secretary general and spokesman for the Justice and Charity party44. 42  Ibid. 43  https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/07/01/actualidad/1498913505_591918.html Accessed on 15-10-2017. 44  Ibid. http://revista.ieee.es

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